Scotland’s Men lost to UAE in the first of three T20 matches in Dubai, as skipper Muhammad Waseem’s 68 from 43 helped the hosts to an eight wicket win.
Batting first, Scotland’s top order struggled initially, with opener George Munsey (75) top scoring as batters fell around him to guide his team to 147-8. Jack Jarvis (21) and Michael Leask (19) made short but important contributions to the team’s total.
Munsey’s momentum proved essential, with other batters faring less well against Junaid Siddique who took four Scottish wickets. After Oli Hairs (0) and Brandon McMullen’s (1) early departures, Scotland were unable to build any significant partnerships, with Basil Hameed claiming Leask and Jarvis, Khan getting skipper Richie Berrington (7) caught and Siddique sending Greaves and Watt back without scoring.
Defending this total proved impossible, as the UAE reached 33-0 after two overs, and kicked on to hit half the required runs inside just eight overs.
Waiting nine overs for a wicket, Chris Geaves made the breakthrough, trapping Tanish Suri (37) LBW. Denied another LBW-call, Greaves could only watch his next ball fly straight back into the stands behind his head as UAE skipper Waseem motored towards the target total. As the UAE reached 107-1 after 13, Scotland seemed out of options. Waseem brought up his 50 with a lofty six off Greaves, following it up with another for good measure.
The door all but closed with UAE needing 17 off 24 thanks to a steady partnership between Waseem and Ali Shan. Denied an LBW call early into his second spell, Jarvis’ patience was rewarded with his first international T20 wicket, getting Ali Shan caught by Greaves at square leg, but UAE cruised home with 14 balls remaining.
Falling in the first match in the T20 series against the hosts, Scotland will look to better their performance in the second game against the hosts on Wednesday (13 March).
Scotland Men’s captain, Richie Berrington, said:
“I think after a tricky start up top in that first power play, we did really well to get ourselves to that position around the 13 or 14 over mark, but […] we just unfortunately lost a few too many wickets in that phase. I think that at one point we were looking to push toward 170 and, in the end, fell short.
“I think conditions [for spinners] were slightly different in that second innings with the dew playing a part. Obviously, it would have been really important to start well in that powerplay and defending that score. Unfortunately we didn’t manage to get those early wickets, which made it hard to pull back through the middle, so I think that was probably the difference of the game really. But for me, I’m obviously really pleased with the performances of George Munsey – I thought he batted superbly – and Jack Jarvis playing his first T20i. He did a lot of good things tonight so that was good to see.
“I think there were still some positives tonight. We did manage to get ourselves into a really good position in this game, so I think next time we have to take that opportunity to really get ahead of the game and keep trying to get on the front foot. Obviously, I think our execution will hopefully get better, the more we go through this series and obviously it’s disappointing when you lose but we look forward to that next opportunity.”
