United Arab Emirates (UAE) registered a terrific win against Papua New Guinea (PNG) on Wednesday ahead of the clash against Nepal. Nepal are facing UAE on Thursday in the very last match of the CWC League 2, which will decide their fate.
A win against UAE will take Nepal to the third position and book a direct ticket to the World Cup Qualifier in Zimbabwe.
PNG posted a fighting total of 234 after opting to bat first. Despite a sluggish start, Skipper Assad Vala’s half-century and a late blitz from Norman Vanua and Riley Hekure helped the team set a good target. PNG were 24/2 after the end of the first powerplay; Vala then anchored the inning and scored 65 runs. Vanua whacked an unbeaten 31-ball 49, smacking five sixes. At the same time, Hekure added 33 runs from 22 balls.
Hazrat Bilal was the pick of a bowler for UAE, dismissing four opposition batters. Rohan Mustafa and Zawar Farid also pocketed one wicket each.
In reply, UAE chased the total in just 38.4 overs, losing four wickets. Captain Muhammad Waseem was the star hitting a scintillating century. The opener smashed six fours and 12 sixes in his 119 runs (76 balls) knock. Apart from that, Vriitya Aravind and CP Rizwan added 33 and 29* runs respectively.
Riley Hekure picked up a couple of wickets for PNG. John Kariko and Kabua Morea also pocketed one each.
PNG finished at the bottom of the table with just 11 points from 36 matches. UAE, on the other hand, will finish sixth despite a win on Thursday.
