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Gulf Cricket T20I: Captains Waseem, Ilyas fire but UAE trump Oman
16 Sep, 2023
UAE skipper Muhammad Waseem hammers 80 while his Omani counterpart Aqib Ilyas powers to 90. But the former's efforts counted in winning cause as UAE won by 22 runs (Photo Credit: Emirates Cricket)
Captains’ knocks were the highlight of the United Arab Emirates-Oman match in the Gulf Cricket T20I Championship, which was won by the Emirates by 22 runs on Saturday at the West End Park International Cricket Stadium in Doha.
UAE captain Muhammad Waseem made a 38-ball 80 with eight sixes and four fours to power the Emirati team to 191/4 in 20 overs.
The 29-year-old right-hander Waseem shared an opening stand of 118 with wicketkeeper-batsman Aryansh Sharma (52 not out off 51 balls) in 11 overs.
Asif Khan made 35 off 20 deliveries as the Emiratis pulverised the Omani.
In response, Oman got off to a poor start losing opener Kashyap Prajapati early but then No. 3 batsman and skipper Aqib Ilyas hammered a 52-ball 90 (4x6s, 10x4s) to keep the team in the hunt.
Such was the dominance of the 31-year-old right-hander that by the time he was dismissed in the 15th over as the fourth wicket, the team had reached just 129.
The Omani team got a late fillip from Mehran Khan, who hit 22 off 13 balls. But that wasn’t enough. They finished at 169/7 in 20 overs.
For the Emirates, right-arm medium pacer Ali Naseer picked 3/31 and right-arm pacer Junaid Siddique took 2/35.
It was hard to pick the Player of the Match among the two skippers, but the adjudicators decided in favour of the winning team skipper Waseem.
Gulf Cricket T20I Championship, UAE, Oman, Muhammad Waseem, Aqib Ilyas