Qasim bowls Shaheens to big win over UAE

LAHORE: Qasim Akram’s maiden six-wicket haul in List-A cricket and half-centuries by Kamran Ghulam, Mohammad Haris, Sahibzada Farhan and Saim Ayub led Pakistan Shaheens to a commanding 184-run win over the UAE A at the P Saravanamuttu Stadium in Colombo on Monday.

This was Shaheens’ second successive win in the ACC Men’s Emerging Teams Asia Cup. The defending champions had defeated Nepal by four wickets on Friday at the Colombo Cricket Ground. The spin duo of Qasim and Sufiyan Muqeem were all over the UAE A batters after openers Aryansh Sharma (37, 34b, 8x4s) and Jonathan Figy (25, 50, 4x4s) stitched a 59-run partnership.

After the departure of both opening batters, only Nilansh Keswani (17, 30b, 2x4s) and Ethan D’Souza (10,19b, 2x4s) managed double figures. Qasim, with his right-arm off-spin bowling, bagged six wickets for 26 runs from 10 overs while left-arm wrist spinner Sufiyan had match figures of 8.5-1-36-3.

Earlier, after being put into bat, Shaheens’ opening pair of Saim and Sahibzada provided a solid 98-run start to the innings. Right-handed Sahibzada was the first one to return to the hut after scoring 63 off 55 balls, which included 10 fours and one six. Left-hander Saim was soon to follow Sahibzada, not before smashing five fours and two sixes in his 63-ball 56.

Omair Bin Yousuf (24, 39b, 2x4s) was next to go with the scorecard reading three for 170 in 27.4 overs. The late middle-order failed to contribute significantly as Shaheens were dismissed for 309 in 49.2 overs – losing five wickets for 24 runs.