United Arab Emirates 175 for 4 (Anwar 50, Mustafa 42, Qasim 41, Ehsan Khan 3-30) beat Hong Kong 174 (Nizakat Khan 93, Haider 4-25) by six wickets
Scorecard
Shaiman Anwar steered UAE home with his sixth ODI half-century © Peter Della Penna
Imran Haider, the legspinner, took four wickets in his second ODI to help United Arab Emirates record a six-wicket win over Hong Kong in their tri-series fixture in Dubai on Thursday. UAE overhauled their target of 175 by six wickets in just 38.1 overs to win the competition by virtue of finishing on top of the points table.
Hong Kong did not justify their decision to bat first, losing wickets in clumps and tottering at one stage at 85 for 5 in the 29th over. Nizakat Khan, the No. 4 batsman, held the lower order together to make a 111-ball 93 courtesy seven fours and three sixes. Nizakat’s 67-run stand for the ninth wicket with Ehsan Nawaz, who made 11, was the highest of the innings which folded in the penultimate over.
Haider removed Babar Hayat, the Hong Kong captain, and Shahid Wasif for ducks. At one stage, he had three wickets in as many overs; he eventually finished with 4 for 25 off his 10 overs to take his wickets tally to seven in two matches.
UAE started solidly courtesy a 76-run opening stand between Rohan Mustafa and Mohammad Qasim, before losing three quick wickets; two of which were picked up by Ehsan Khan, the offspinner. Shaiman Anwar then took charge to make a half-century to take UAE to within 27 runs of victory before giving Ehsan his third wicket. Muhammad Usman (20 not out) and Mohammad Naveed (9 not out) then saw off the chase to take UAE to the title.
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Source: ESPN Crickinfo