The United Arab Emirates beat Ireland by 13 runs in the 4th game of the quadrangular T20 series at the Oman Cricket Academy Ground on Sunday.
Put into bat first after losing the toss, the UAE lost both openers well inside the powerplay. Muhammad Waseem, dealing exclusively in boundaries, was dismissed in the third over and five balls later in-form Chirag Suri followed suit.
It was the fourth wicket partnership however, that defined the UAE innings. 19-year-old Vriitya Aravind showed maturity well beyond his years, refusing to back down under pressure and counter attacking the Irish bowling unit at every possible opportunity. The other end was marshalled by Rohan Mustafa, whose robust yet measured knock provided the perfect foil for Aravind to inflict maximum damage.
This 94-run partnership placed the UAE in pole position to finish with a flourish at the death, a proposition that enticed Kashif Daud. He smashed two sixes and two fours off Mark Adair’s final over, propelling the score from a competitive 155 after 19 overs to a daunting 178 at the end of 20. Craig Young was Ireland’s star performer with the ball, picking up 4 wickets for 28 runs.
Ireland’s chase got off to an extremely unfortunate start, as a running mix-up between the openers meant that Paul Stirling was back in the changing room after just 5 balls. Despite that setback, Gareth Delany and captain Andy Balbirnie retaliated, and punished the UAE’s bowling attack in the powerplay. Delany was dismissed in the 6th over, but Ireland managed to keep the run rate above 10 for the next 3 and looked on course to complete a successful run chase.
Those hopes were dashed in the 10th over as spinner Meiyappan picked up the prized scalp of Balbirnie. With that, the Irish challenge started to fade. Curtis Campher made 40 runs but took 39 balls to do so, looking extremely out of sorts in the middle. He was unable to step on the gas at any point of his innings and eventually, was unceremoniously run out in the final over.
Shane Getkate and Lorcan Tucker chipped in with useful knocks but couldn’t keep up with the sky-high asking rate. Ultimately, the demolition job performed by Kashif Daud in the first innings had no Irish peer, and the UAE claimed a hard-fought but well-deserved 13 run victory in the end.
With this win the UAE stand atop the table, having continued their rich vein of form from the ODI series against Oman earlier this month. Ireland fought hard, and having beaten the hosts just 17 hours prior, have every right to assign the blame for this loss to fatigue. All eyes now turn to the tournament concluding double header on Monday, with Oman facing UAE and Ireland taking on Nepal.
BRIEF SCORES: UAE 178/5 in 20 overs (Rohan Mustafa 54(43) 6 x 4, 1 x 6 Vriitya Aravind 50(36) 3 x 4, 2 x 6 ; Craig Young 28/4) beat Ireland 165/7 in 20 overs (Andy Balbirnie 42(27) 2 x 4, 3 x 6 ; Palaniapan Meiyappan 23/2) by 13 runs
