Ireland won their must-win fixture as they faced UAE in match No. 9 of the ongoing Desert T20 2017. Ireland, playing at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium on Wednesday, dominated UAE throughout the match as they posted a challenging 160 for 6 batting first and later restricted the opponents at 136 for 7, snatching a 24-run defeat from UAE. With this, Ireland got their second victory in the tournament and are virtually through to the semi-final along with Afghanistan, who had already qualified with back to back victories in the series. These two teams will face the two table-toppers of Group B in the semi-final on Friday for their chances to get to the final on the same day.
Winning the toss, Ireland elected to bat first. Paul Stirling got the team off to a great start as he started hammering the UAE bowlers from the very beginning. Stuart Poynter, however, departed early. William Porterfield, the skipper took the crease but soon followed Poynter for a duck. Stirling brought up 50 for Ireland along with Kevin O’Brien and got out for a 30-ball 39. Kevin took charge next and with ample support from Gary Wilson at the other end, struck a 27-ball 40 which helped Ireland accelerate the run-rate, creating pressure on the bowlers. At the end of their innings, they put up 160 for 6 in 20 overs.
Amjad Javed was exceptional with the ball, giving UAE the first breakthrough and soon following it up with another wicket. However, he bowled out his four overs early and later on, the bowling did not look to fall according to plans. Chasing the target, UAE’s top-order failed horribly as the top five batsmen went back for single-digit scores. UAE lost their first wicket off the very first delivery, when Rohan Mustafa went back to the hut. Losing back to back wickets, UAE were reduced to 21 for 5 after 3.4 overs and looked in all sorts of trouble. Javed once again came to the rescue, emerging as the highest run-getter. He scored 47 off 46 and ended team’s innings with a six but failed to replicate MS Dhoni’s trademark style as the team lost the match by 24 runs, ending innings with 136 for 7 on the board.
It was Boyd Rankin’s early scalps that put Ireland in commanding position. He bagged 3 wickets while Jacob Mulder picked up a couple.
Brief scores:
Ireland 160 for 6 in 20 overs (Paul Stirling 39, Kevin O’Brien 40, Gary Wilson 26; Amjad Javed 2 for 16, Zahoor Khan 2 for 27) won vs UAE 136 for 7 in 20 overs (Amjad Javed 47*, Mohammad Naveed 25*; Boyd Rankin 3 for 16, Jacob Mulder 2 for 20) by 24 runs.
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