Farid shines as UAE down Nigeria; PNG, Hong Kong post wins

Mohammad Abdullah, Staff Reporter

Zawar Farid struck a blitzkrieg fifty to guide the UAE to a facile 5-wicket victory over Nigeria to in their ICC World T20 qualifiers match on Thursday.

After restricting Nigeria for to a paltry 111/3, UAE raced to the target for the loss of five wickets with 45 balls to spare.

A couple of decent partnerships for the first and the second wickets respectively had put the UAE in command firmly before Nigeria bowlers struck to derail the innings.

UAE lost three wickets with in a span of 11 runs as they were reduced to 91-5 from 80-2. But Mohammad Usman (20) and Sultan Ahmed (8) kept their cool and took their team over the line.

Earlier, Nigeria got off to a nightmarish start as they lost two wickets with just runs on the board. They were reduced to 22/3. But CN Onwuzulike (46) and S Adedeji (51) shared an unbeaten 89-run stand for the fourth wicket to anchor the innings. But the duo consumed too many deliveries and did not bother to press the throttle to up the run-rate.

Their sedated innings resulted in a paltry total, making the work easier for the UAE.

Meanwhile, PNG regained their form and defeated Netherlands by five wickets with six balls remaining to go the top of table.

Hong Kong also defeated Canada by 32 runs in another match. After posting a total of 150 they restricted Canada to 118/9.

Meanwhile, Selladore Kumar of Singapore, Tom Sole of Scotland and Abiodun Abioye of Nigeria have been suspended from bowling in international cricket with immediate effect after the Event Panel of the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup Qualifier 2019 confirmed that they use illegal actions. The Event Panel comprised members of the ICC Panel of Human Movement Specialists.

Kumar was reported by match officials during Singapore’s match against Scotland on 18 October, Sole in Scotland’s match against Kenya on Oct.19 and Abioye during Nigeria’s match against Canada on Oct.21.