Dubai: Hard-hitting batsman Shaimon Anwar cracked a quick half-century but could not stop Western Australia from recording their second successive victory over UAE in the International Cricket Council (ICC) High Performance Programme (HPP) match for the four qualifiers of the ICC Cricket World Cup 2015 to be held in Australia and New Zealand.
Anwar, who missed his half century by nine runs in the first match against Western Australia, cracked 63 runs off just 62 balls with four boundaries and four sixes to help UAE post a challenging total of 210.
Western Australia raced to the target in 37.4 overs through opener Marcus Harris’ superb knock of 121 runs to record a nine wicket victory.
Put into bat on a pacey wicket at the Murdoch University Ground in Perth by Western Australia, UAE batsmen fell to the fiery pace of Andrew Tye, who bagged four wickets for just 29 runs from his ten overs. He dismissed UAE’s first three batsmen which included the prize wicket of skipper Khurram Khan and also ended Anwar’s determined knock.
UAE openers Amjad Ali and Andri Berenger put on 48 runs before Tye had Ali caught behind for 22. Khurram Khan lasted only nine balls to score five runs before Tye had him also caught behind.
In the 14th over, Tye had Berenger too caught behind for 26 runs. To make matters difficult for UAE, Kyle Millar dismissed Saqlain Haider for 9 and Saqib Ali for 11 and UAE crashed to 92 for 5.
Anwar took up the challenge and went for his shots. He began by hitting Millar for a six and followed it up with two sixes off David Moody and one off Matt Dixon. In the 44th over, Anwar fell leg before to Tye but Mohammad Naveed, batting at No. 9 position hit a quick 28 off 19 balls with three sixes and one boundary to steer UAE past the 200 run mark. Tim Armstrong by taking two quick wickets ended UAE innings for 210 runs.
Western Australia’s inform batsmen Luke Towers and Harris raced to the target at a brisk pace. Harris began by hitting Manjula Guruge for a six. Towers followed it up by hitting Fayyaz Ahmad for two sixes. The pair put on 207 runs in 37.2 overs before Ahmad dismissed Harris, caught by Amjad Ali after he had hit 13 boundaries and three sixes. Towers remained unbeaten on 82 with seven boundaries and two sixes.
The UAE team will now fly to Darwin and take on Northern Territory on Wednesday (September 17), and Papua New Guinea on Thursday.