UAE draw first blood with thumping win
Tony Munro
Judhajit
25-Feb-2013
Tony Munro
UAE 50 for 1 (Arfan 29*, Iqbal 12) beat Uganda 49 (Ben Musoke 12, Nawaz 4-16, Amjad 2-23, Ahmed Raza 2-2) by nine wickets
United Arab Emirates (UAE) thrashed Uganda by nine wickets and with 44 overs to spare, in the first one-day match at the Sharjah Cricket Ground on Monday. Being put in, Uganda crumbled to 49 all out in 29.4 overs with allrounder Benjamin Musoke (12) the only batsman to reach double figures. Dubai-born bowler Amjad Javed caused early inroads removing experienced opener Roger Mukasa and captain Asad Baig to reduce Uganda to 10 for 2. Fellow opening bowler Qadar Nawaz, making his one-day debut, then capitalised to take 4 for 16 from 10 overs.
When UAE batted, another debutant made an impact as Arfan Haider belted 29 from 18 balls including thee fours and two sixes to propel UAE past Uganda's total in just six overs. Deusdedit Muhumza, in his first match for Uganda, took the consolation wicket of Mohammad Iqbal.
The two teams play the second match of the series in Dubai on Tuesday, with the last game scheduled the following day.