Waseem remained not out on his 89 as the UAE ended their innings at 245 for two, creating a new high in T20 internationals for the team.
UAE’s Muhammad Waseem scored 89 runs off 50 balls without getting out and the team won convincingly against Namibia by 40 runs in the first match of the T20 tri series held at Windhoek. The innings set by Waseem was impressive enough to take the team to decide on a relatively high score.
The chase seemed unlikely for Namibia, for the UAE bowlers made sure that the chase was within bounds. This was a decent first step for the UAE in the tournament involving three countries.
The innings by Waseem consisted of 50 balls and came when the UAE’s total was 245 for 2. With this knock, Waseem not only helped his side top the scoreboard but also impressed the audience in the first T20 international ever played at Sharjah stadium.
His brilliant knock was the launching pad for the UAE showing their true strength and taste of the game against Namibia at one point.
Making his young debut Waseem has been tremendous 89 not out of 50 balls and clinched 40 runs victory over Madagascar in the quarter-finals Sunday at T20 tri series Sharjah.
Asif Khan and Basil Hameed stood up when needed as they launched an onslaught scoring 39 and 37 runs, respectively (not out) thus helping UAE overcome the pressure, especially during the last overs. Their ruthless approach in their batting during the last few overs saw the team score an impressive 245 runs for the loss of 2 wickets setting up a strong position for the UAE in the next phase of fielding.
Chasing this target, the devil side kept the morale high but there was never really much of a fark to the lofty target as they closed at 205 for 8.
Opener JP Kotze scored a solid 55 runs for Namibia which was the highest score and well deserving 55 runs for obvious reasons. This performance gave the hosts strong foundations to build on but they could not catch up with this target against the UAE.
For the UAE, Muhammad Jawadullah, Ali Naseer and basil bagged two wickets a piece.
Next for the UAE will pit them against the USA on Monday. No doubt this match is going to be very interesting as both teams will be looking for at least a victory in the ongoing T20 tri-series competition. The game is eagerly awaited by fans.