Aryansh Sharma and Sohaib Khan fired Unitrd Arab Emirates to a hard-fought five wicket win against Canada in Delhi. It was UAE’s second win in the competition, after they beat Namibia in the 2022 edition of the T20 World Cup. Aryansh and Sohaib did justice to Junaid Siddique’s five-wicket haul which restricted Canada to 150 for 7.

UAE were themselves down in the dumps at 66 for 4, before this pair added 84 of the 85 runs required at that stage. With eight needed from the last over, Aryansh struck a six off the first ball and then took a single. Sohaib top edged Jaskarandeep Singh to fall with UAE needing one off three balls before Muhammad Arfan scored the winning run.

UAE however were nowhere near a win when left-arm spinner Saad Bin Zafar took 3 for 14 to put Canada a strong position by the 13th over of the chase.

Kaleem Sana had the UAE captain Muhammad Waseem caught at midwicket for four in the third over. Zafar then removed the other dangerman, Alishan Sharafu, in the seventh over to give Canada the early advantage. Sharafu couldn’t clear Nicholas Kirton at covers and fell for five.

Zafar was stingy and kept his subtle change of pace going, removing Mayank Kumar for four in the 11th over. Kumar’s intention to belt him down the ground only found Sana at long-on. In his next over, Zafar had Harshit Kaushik cagut at deep midwicket.

UAE had their backs to the wall as they needed 56 runs in the last four overs. Sohaib hit Dilon Heyliger for two sixes and a four. He first smoked him over midwicket for a maximum, followed by a lofted shot over mid-off for four, and a six straight into the sight-screen. After the 17-run over, Sohaib then got stuck into Jaskarandeep with a four and a six off the first two balls of the 18th over.

He then cracked two more fours to start Sana’s penultimate over, before the left-arm quick’s beamer hurt wicketkeeper Shreyas Movva. Another top edged boundary and a straight hit for two got Sohaib to his half-century off just 28 balls, leaving UAE eight to win from the last over.

The 33-year-old Siddique began UAE’s push when he had Dilpreet Bajwa caught at mid-off in the second over for 11. Yuvraj Samra mistimed a pull to mid-on in Siddique’s next over. When Muhammad Jawadullah had Nicholas Kirton caught behind in the sixth over, UAE gained a stronghold in the game.

Siddique returned with three more wickets in his late spell. He started off with Harsh Thaker’s wicket after he had reached his half-century. Siddique used the slower delivery to outfox a set Thaker. He removed Movva and Zafar in the last over, completing his maiden five-wicket haul in T20Is.

Dhaliwal, who made a half-century against South Africa in Canada’s previous game, struck four boundaries in his 34 off 28 balls. His run-out was unfortunate when Dhaliwal’s bat got stuck just outside the crease. Thaker later fell on exactly 50 off 41 balls, with two fours and three sixes, though Thaker held together the UAE innings till the 18th over.

Brief scores:
United Arab Emirates 154 for 5 in 19.4 overs (Arynash Sharma 74*, Sohaib Khan  51; Kaleem Sana 1-29, Jaskaran Singh 1-45, Saad Bin  Zafar 3-14) beat Canada 150 for 7 in 20 overs  (Dilpreet Bajwa 11,Navneet Dhaliwal 34, Harsh Thaker 50, Shreya Movva 21;  Junaid Siddique 5-35, Muhammad Jawadullah 1-16) by five wickets

[Cricinfo]