Abu Dhabi: Skipper Muhammad Waseem and his opening partner Alishan Sharafu struck quick-fire fifties as UAE posted 172 for five against Oman in their Asia Cup group league match here Monday.
Waseem anchored the UAE innings with a 69 off 54 balls, getting out only in the last over, while Sharafu blazed away to a 38-ball 51 after a scratchy start.
Left-arm medium pacer Jiten Ramanandi helped Oman pull things back a little with fine figures of 2/24 in four overs.
After a quiet first over, the adventurous Sharafu got a boundary through a packed off-side field off Shah Faisal, even as Shakeel Ahmed kept the run-scoring in check at the other end initially.
Looking to take on the bowlers by coming down the track repeatedly, Sharafu found the fence twice against Faisal, hitting him over mid-on before employing the cut shot against a short and wide delivery for another four.
Captain Muhammad Waseem, the UAE’s best batter who is known for his aggressive approach and ability to play big shots, got into the act and fetched himself three boundaries in Aamir Kaleem’s first over, the 43-year-old left-arm spinner hardly posing any threat as he ended up giving away 14 runs.
Back on strike, Sharafu launched into medium pacer Hassnain Shah for three successive fours as the batter continued to step out of the crease and make room for himself.
Thanks to the urgency of the openers, UAE scored 50 runs in the power play.
Hoping for a breakthrough, Oman skipper Jatinder Singh introduced left-arm seamer Jiten Ramanandi into the attack, and Sharafu struck him through the off-side for a boundary.
Jatinder made another bowling change, bringing in leg-spinner Samay Shrivastava, but Sharafu and Waseem were equal to the task, the batters hitting a six each to continue the home team’s onslaught.
Luck was with Waseem as Hammad Mirza dropped a catch off him after misjudging the ball in the deep, as UAE reached 83 for no loss in 10 overs.
Waseem got another life right after the drinks break, Shakeel being the culprit this time.
However, Ramanandi soon gave Oman something to cheer about when he bowled Sharafu, disturbing the off-stump after the batter again made room to play through the off-side, only to miss it completely this time.
Both Oman and UAE lost their opening matches of the tournament to Pakistan and India respectively.
