UAE's T20 World Cup hopes end with defeat to PNG

The UAE's hopes of qualifying for the ICC Women's T20 World Cup next year ended with their second straight defeat in the qualifying tournament in Abu Dhabi on Monday.

Chaya Mughal's team lost their second Group A match to Papua New Guinea by 29 runs, having lost their opening game to Thailand by seven wickets on Sunday.

The home team will take on Zimbabwe in their final Group A game on Wednesday, but even a victory against the Africans will not take the UAE to the semifinals of the tournament.

Eight teams have been divided into two groups of four each in this qualifying tournament with the top two teams advancing to next year's ICC Women's T20 World Cup in South Africa.

On Monday, the UAE won the toss and invited PNG to bat.

Sibona Jimmy and Naoani Vare got PNG off to a solid start with a 29-run opening stand. Jimmy then added 35 runs for the second wicket along with Tanya Ruma with the former assuming the role of the aggressor.

Once Jimmy departed, Ruma took on the UAE bowling attack, starting with three consecutive sixes off Vaishnave Mahesh in the 13th over.

PNG were 115/2 with five overs remaining before the UAE fought back brilliantly to restrict PNG to 148/6.

Bowling all four of her overs on the trot in the end, Samaira Dharnidharka returned with brilliant figures of 3/22. Ruma (53) got to a well-deserved half-century.

The UAE got off to a brisk start in the Powerplay, scoring 46 runs while losing just one wicket. The second-wicket stand between Theertha Satish and Kavisha Egodage was worth 53 runs and put UAE in a commanding position in the chase.

However, the wicket of Egodage triggered a collapse and the UAE never managed to recover from it. From 77/2, the UAE could only manage 119/8. Satish was the last wicket to fall but her 56-ball 68 went in vain as the UAE fell short by 29 runs.

Meanwhile, Zimbabwe (87/4) beat Thailand (86/6) by six wickets in the other Group A match of the day.

In Group B matches on Monday, Bangladesh (78/4) beat Scotland (77 all out) by six wickets, while Ireland (92/1) beat the US (91 all out) by nine wickets. (with inputs from ICC website)