Ireland beat UAE by two wickets in what proved to be the most thrilling match yet of the ICC Cricket World Cup 2015. After a tremendous century from Shaiman Anwar led UAE to 278 for nine, the onus was on the experienced Irish top and middle-order to perform. It started with William Porterfield and Ed Joyce, continued with Andy Balbirnie and Gary Wilson, and finished with a characteristic flourish from Kevin O’Brien. With this win, Ireland move to the third spot in Pool B on the points table, behind India and West Indies on net run rate. Match Scorecard: Ireland vs United Arab Emirates (UAE) ICC Cricket World Cup 2015
To the credit of the UAE bowlers, they managed to stay in the hunt for the length of the innings. Mohammad Naveed and Manjula Guruge ensured that Ireland did not get off to a flying start, and Mohammad Tauqir turned the screws further with an excellent spell that put Ireland on the back foot. Live Updates: Ireland vs UAE ICC Cricket World Cup 2015
Paul Stirling was out early, edging Guruge behind to Swapnil Patil for just three. Porterfield and Joyce then put on 68, though Joyce was extremely lucky to survive a bizarre chance when the ball hit the stumps but left the bails unmoved. He was out for 37 soon thereafter, and was joined in quick succession by both Porterfield and Niall O’Brien, both of whom were snapped up by Tauqir. ICC Cricket World Cup 2015: POINTS TABLE
At 97 for four, Ireland were in dire need of a partnership, which was duly provided by Andy Balbirnie and Gary Wilson. The duo combined to bat sensibly for over 13 overs, and added a crucial 74 runs before Balbirnie’s dismissal for 30. However, his wicket proved to a blessing in disguise for Ireland, as that brought in Kevin O’Brien. ICC Cricket World Cup 2015: SCHEDULE & MATCH DETAILS
The man who hit a 50-ball century against England in ICC World Cup 2011 went on to hit the fastest fifty by an Irishman when he broke his own record. The younger O’Brien hit a 24-ball 50 that included two back-to-back sixes to bring up the landmark. O’Brien was out off the very next ball, but it was enough to ensure his team got close to UAE’s total. ICC Cricket World Cup 2015: Complete Coverage
The onus was then on Wilson, who took over from O’Brien in comprehensive fashion. The wicketkeeper-batsman took calculated risks and found the boundary at will. There was a bit of a flutter at the end when John Mooney played a ramp shot off Amjad Javed that ended up being an easy catch for Amjad Ali, but Wilson hit a couple of boundaries to settle the nerves. However, Wilson’s dismissal — with 12 needed off 15 balls — for a terrific 80 caused the match to once again turn on its head. ICC Cricket World Cup 2015: Leading Run-Scorers
In the end, it was a match that went about as deep as it possibly could. Alex Cusack and George Dockrell were left to play out the last two heart-stopping overs. Dockrell got a boundary late in the penultimate over to take the equation down to three off the last over. ICC Cricket World Cup 2015: Leading Wicket-Takers
Shaiman Anwar’s excellent century and cameos from Amjad Ali, Khurram Khan, and Amjad Javed ensured that UAE got to 278 for nine against Ireland in the 16th match of ICC Cricket World Cup 2015 at Brisbane. The way UAE approached their innings at the start suggested that they had no realistic hope of lasting for a full 50 overs. All that changed once Shaiman and Javed came together for a game-changing 107-run stand for the seventh wicket. ICC Cricket World Cup 2015: List of Best Fielders
Amjad and fellow opener Andri Raffaelo Berenger got off to a sedate start, scoring just 44 runs off the first 10 overs. The safety-first approach soon backfired, as Stirling snapped up both Berenger and Krishna Karate in quick succession to leave UAE struggling at 53 for two. Amjad and Khurram then put on a 20-run stand which had the potential to turn into a match-winning one before Amjad holed out to Max Sorenson off Kevin O’Brien.
Swapnil Patil was out soon thereafter, as UAE slumped to 78 for four before Khurram and Shaiman came together. Khurram went past 500 ODI runs, becoming the first UAE batsman in history to do so. The duo added 47 before Khurram was out to a slightly questionable LBW decision. Khurram went for the review, which showed that the ball would have just about clipped the top of the bails. The decision stayed with the umpire as Khurram was declared out for 36. UAE’s trend of losing two wickets in a row continued, with Rohan Mustafa edging behind to reduce UAE to 131 for six before another partnership between Shaiman and Amjad Javed.
The duo finally showed some impetus, taking on the largely one-dimensional Irish attack with elan and adding 107 crucial runs for the seventh wicket. Shaiman was all about style, while Javed used the long handle with good effect as the duo churned out runs at will. Paul Stirling bowled a nagging spell of his part-time off-spin that yielded two for 27 in 10 overs, but the others struggled with their line and length toward the end of the innings.
Much like in the previous game against Zimbabwe, UAE managed to bring out a few big hits toward the end to make up for a lacklustre start. It was Shaiman’s innings of 67 in the last match that had helped take UAE to 285. He did even better this time around, becoming the first UAE batsman to score a World Cup ton, and ensured that UAE ended with another good score.
Brief scores:
UAE 278 for 9 in 50 overs (Amjad Ali 45, Shaiman Anwar 106, Amjad Javed 42; Paul Stirling 2 for 27, Kevin O’Brien 2 for 61) lost to Ireland 279 for 8 in 49.2 overs (Gary Wilson 80, Kevin O’Brien 50; Amjad Javed 3 for 60, Mohammad Tauqir 2 for 38, Mohammad Naveed 2 for 65) by 2 wickets.
Man of the Match: Gary Wilson
(Shiamak Unwalla, a reporter with CricketCountry, is a self-confessed Sci-Fi geek and Cricket fanatic. You can follow him on Twitter @ShiamakUnwalla)
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