Mustafa three-for helps UAE go 2-0 up over Netherlands
Netherlands can hope to at best draw the four-game T20I series now
ESPNcricinfo staff
05-Aug-2019
Rohan Mustafa and Mohammad Naveed bump chests to celebrate a wicket • AFP
United Arab Emirates 140 for 5 (Shahzad 49, Usman 34) beat Netherlands 136 for 9 (Cooper 46, Seelaar 34, Mustafa 3-27, Zahoor 2-20) by five wickets
Three wickets from Rohan Mustafa and a 59-run fourth-wicket stand between Rameez Shahzad (49) and Muhammad Usman (34) helped UAE take an unassailable 2-0 lead in the four-match T20I series against Netherlands in Amstelveen.
Despite winning their first match while batting first, UAE chose to chase after winning the toss and were rewarded instantly. Netherlands opener Stephan Myburgh was out in the day's first over after pacer Mohammad Naveed rattled his stumps. Sultan Ahmed and Zahoor Khan chipped in with wickets, too, but it was Mustafa's three-for in the middle overs that dismantled the home side.
After Ben Cooper's dismissal for 40 in the 12th over, Mustafa removed Pieter Seelaar (34), Scott Edwards and Sebastiaan Braat in quick succession. Two run-outs didn't help Netherlands' cause either with Saqib Zulfikar and Sikander Zulfiqar falling after getting starts. Eventually Netherlands crawled to 136 for 9 in their 20 overs.
In their chase, UAE lost Mustafa in the second over, but a 27-run second-wicket stand, followed by a 25-run third-wicket partnership provided some stability to their batting. Then the half-century stand between Shahzad and Usman brought UAE closer to victory. By the time Shahzad was out in the 17th over, UAE needed 30 runs in 19 balls, and Usman, alongwith Mohammad Boota (11*) and Waheed Ahmed (2*) took them to victory.
