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UAE Too Strong
for Canada

ABU DHABI — On the face of it, it was an inconsequential game, but there was no let up. Seventh-seeded UAE thumped fifth-seeded Canada to make it three out of three wins in Group B in the ICC World Twenty20 qualifiers at the Shaikh Zayed Stadium on Thursday.

UAE, who had stunned Kenya in their first game before defeating The Netherlands at the Dubai Sports City in Dubai on Wednesday, to qualify for the Super Fours, beat Canada by 42 runs. Canada lost all their games, losing to The Netherlands and Kenya.

Put into bat, UAE made 142 for the loss of seven wickets in their 20 overs. They got off to a blistering start with opener Mohammed Iqbal clubbing 17 from 10 balls with three boundaries. But his promising knock was cut short by Khurram Chohan, who had his castled. Normal order resumed but the other opener Arfan Haider kept Canada at bay by top scoring with 46 before John Davison had him castled. His knock came off 43 balls and was studded with five boundaries and a six.

No.4 batsman Saqib Ali cracked a quickfire 43 from just 29 balls with four boundaries and a six.

New ball bowler Khurram Chohan was the pick of the bowlers for Canada, with three wickets for 20 from his three overs.

In reply, Canada had a troubled start losing both their openers John Davison and Rizwan Cheema in the first two overs itself.

Captain Ashish Bagai and Geoff Barnett put on 35 runs for the third wicket but none of their batsmen failed to stand up to the UAE bowlers. UAE derailed the chase, snapping up three wickets in the space of 12 balls, giving away just one run as Canada slipped to 49 for the loss of five wickets. It was a mountain to climb from there on and Canada folded up for 100.

james@khaleejtimes.com