UAE hoped for a miracle on the last day of the final match against http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Namibia-c2964 to win the title of ICC Intercontinental Cup.
Sadly, Namibian captain http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Craig-Williams-c51765 dashed the hopes of the Emirati line up as he smashed a watch winning century on 5
December at the ICC Global Cricket Academy, Dubai.
UAE looked comfortable during their second innings when they scored 427 all out as they chased Namibia’s 320 in the first innings. Williams had previously scored his first century in the match (116 off 102 balls) which steered his team to have a lead of
241 runs.
Earlier on the third day, UAE’s top order gave a confident start to their second innings as http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Naeemuddin-Aslam-c78483 came close to a half century but was bowled out by Sarel Burger at 48 runs whereas Arshad Ali was lucky enough to score his half century but fell
victim to S Burger’s delivery.
But http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Saqib-Ali-c88733 shone for UAE, who batted throughout the third day as he remained unbeaten at 139 to make his team stay in the game. His century helped his team take a lead of 162 but they did not have wickets in hand as Namibian bowlers went through the Emirati
middle and lower order.
Saqib found his way through the Namibian onslaught along with Swapnil Patel who made 94 and together they shared 172 runs. S Burger completed his five wicket haul as he took the wicket of http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Khurram-Khan-c71386 (5 runs) and Amjad Ali (8 runs) along with taking a leg
before off Patil. Saqib however managed to push his team further in taking the lead as he resiliently ended unbeaten on 160 runs.
The target of 187 did not seem a huge score to the Namibian batsmen as they had plenty of overs to stamp the win but they were shaken by http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Raymond-van-Schoor-c84385 managed to shackle
the confidence of Namibian top-order yet a determined Ewald Steenkamp smashed six boundaries to make 35 runs. S Burger (3 runs off 13 balls) was the second wicket for Amjad Javed.
However, as Namibian captain Craig Williams came up to the crease he along with Steenkamp shared 52 runs between them until Steenkamp was caught leg before by Amjad. Yet the dismissal of Steenkamp did not hinder Williams’s determination as he steered his
way to make his second century in the final match. He smashed fifteen boundaries and two sixes. He quickly anchored his team to 156 runs with the loss of four wickets.
His unbeaten 113 runs off just 95 balls helped him get the Man of the Match title as he also swung the ball successfully taking two wickets off 88 runs.
“It has gone off really well. I am a bit emotional; I don’t know what to say really,” the beaming captain said at the post-match ceremony.
The Namibian all-rounder said that he was never unsure about his team’s success in the series. He said that despite the Emirati’s Saqib Ali’s hard fought century, the team was quite confident about securing the victory.
“I don’t think we were worried because we had a game plan, I thought they needed to get a lot more runs to get ahead of us. The pitch was playing really well,” the 26 year old Captain said.
He further commented that his side didn’t really worry as the target was easily achievable. “If we had to chase 300-350 then it would have been difficult with their spin attack. But we just backed our game plan.” Williams concluded saying, “It’s nice that
it all went our way.”
UAE’s captain Khurram Khan was not dejected by the loss, as he gave all the credit to his side for fighting back to bring them into the contest.
“We don’t give up, there was nothing in the wicket and we still got three wickets on a batting-friendly track,” the captain concluded.
Tags: