Dubai: UAE’s newly-appointed Twenty20 skipper Amjad Javed led from the front through a splendid all-round performance to pull of an exciting five run win over Scotland at ICC Cricket Academy in a Twenty20 International match. He top scored for the UAE with 76 runs off 42 balls with five boundaries and five sixes and also took two crucial wickets.
It was a huge boost for UAE, who had recently been struggling for form in ICC Intercontinental matches and World Cricket League series to beat Scotland, who will be playing in the upcoming ICC Twenty20 World Cup in India.
Speaking to Gulf News, Amjad after winning the man of the match, said: “The extra responsibility of being appointed captain made me perform in this manner. As a senior player of the team I was keen to end the bad phase of the UAE team and put in all my effort. It was a special feeling to defeat a World Cup bound team.”
Batting first, UAE made 148 for 8 in 20 overs. Swapnil Patil opened the innings but scored only six runs. Opener Mohammad Shahzad and star batsman Shaimon Anwar scored only 16 and 15 runs, respectively. Amjad took charge and went for his shots. Except for Rohan Mustafa (12), none of the rest reached double figures. The aggressive Amjad hit five well-timed sixes. When he got out, the score was 146 and he had scored half of the runs.
Scotland replied strongly through their experienced batsmen with Preston Mommsen cracking 56.
“We bowled tightly and I rotated the bowling effectively. Everyone tried their best to bowl to a good line and length, especially Mohammad Naveed who took two wickets for 16 runs. It was a good bowling performance by our team,” said Amjad.
UAE will now play Ireland, another World Twenty20 Cup-bound team.
Brief scores
UAE bt Scotland by five runs. UAE 148 for 8 (Amjad Javed 76, Safyaan Sharif 4 for 24) Scotland 139 for 9 in 20 overs (Matthew Cross 20, Preston Mommsen 56, Mohammad Naveed 2 for 16, Amjad Javed 2 for 19) Man of the match: Amjad Javed.
