All-round UAE secure crucial win

A strong all-round performance helped United Arab Emirates secure a crucial 46-run win over Canada in a World Cricket League Championship match, lifting them to the fourth place on the table.

Put in to bat, UAE staged a strong recovery from a precarious 54 for 3 in the 12th over to finish at 269 for 4. Shaiman Anwar anchored the innings, posting a 68-run fourth-wicket partnership with Swapnil Patil and then staging an unbeaten 147-run fifth-wicket stand with Rohan Mustafa. Mustafa and Anwar began cautiously but accelerated in the last 10 overs, scoring 96 runs off 60 balls to lift UAE to a challenging total. Anwar brought up his third List-A hundred off the last ball of the match with a four off Cecil Pervez and his innings included nine fours and three sixes. Mustafa scored an unbeaten 68 off 61 balls, which included five fours and two sixes.

Canada's batsmen couldn't replicate UAE and their chase suffered for a lack of big partnerships. They had just one fifty-plus stand between Ruvindu Gunasekera and Usman Limbada for the fourth wicket. Both batsmen eventually scored fifties but the loss of regular wickets hurt Canada. Pacer Mohammad Naveed and offspiner Nasir Aziz did most of the damage, picking up four wickets each.