Uganda fall agonisingly short

Uganda were agonisingly close to scoring their first win of their four-match tour of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) but lost the second Twenty20 match to the home side by two runs in Dubai on Wednesday.

In the team for his slow left-armers, tailender Henry Ssenyondo faced the last ball from Qasim Zubair needing three to win, attempted to pull off good length delivery but missed and was bowled to hand UAE victory.

A win for Uganda had seemed likely when Frank Nsubuga (3 for 9) and Ronald Ssemanda (2 for 18) limited UAE to 112 for nine. Opener Arfan Haider (20) was his team's top scorer, as the hosts never got going.

In their reply, Uganda lost wickets at regular intervals but even when skipper Akbar Baig was run out for 12, leaving Uganda at 65 for five, they still only needed 48 balls from 54 balls. Benjamin Musoke (32) was driving the surge towards the target, but when he was bowled by Ahmed Raza, the last of the recognised batsmen was gone and Uganda were 96 for seven.