Qasim’s six-fer leads Pakistan Shaheens to second successive win

COLOMBO: Qasim Akram’s maiden six-wicket haul in List-A cricket and half-centuries by Kamran Ghulam, Mohammad Haris, Sahibzada Farhan and Saim Ayub led Pakistan Shaheens to a commanding 184-run win over UAE A at the P Saravanamuttu Stadium in Colombo on Monday.

This was Shaheens’ second successive win in the ACC Men’s Emerging Teams Asia Cup after the defending champions defeated Nepal by four wickets on Friday at the Colombo Cricket Ground.

Chasing 310 to win, the spin duo of Qasim and Sufiyan Muqeem were all over the UAE A batters after openers Aryansh Sharma (37) and Jonathan Figy (25) stitched a 59-run partnership for the first wicket.

After the departure of the opening batters, only Nilansh Keswani (17) and Ethan D’Souza (10) managed to enter into double figures.

Qasim, with his right-arm off-spin bowling, bagged six wickets for 26 runs from 10 overs while left-arm wrist spinner Sufiyan ended with figures of 8.5-1-36-3.

Earlier, after being put into bat, Shaheens’ opening pair of Saim and Sahibzada provided a solid 98-run start to the innings. Right-handed Sahibzada was the first one to return back to the hut after scoring 63 off 55 balls, which included 10 fours and one six.

Left-hander Saim was soon to follow Sahibzada, not before smashing five fours and two sixes in his 63-ball 56.

Following the dismissals of both openers, Omair Bin Yousuf (24) was next to go with the scorecard reading 160-3 in 27.4 overs. At that important juncture of the match, Kamran Ghulam was joined by skipper Mohammad Haris and the pair knitted an 87-run partnership for the fourth wicket.

Haris (55, 46b, 9x4s) was out in the 40th over, while Kamran (63, 53b, 4x4s, 4x6s) followed his captain as Shaheens were 284-5 in 43.4 overs.

The late middle-order then failed to contribute significantly as Shaheens were dismissed for 309 in 49.2 overs — losing five wickets for 24 runs.

For UAE A, Jash Giyanani was the most successful bowler, taking four wickets for 50 runs in 10 overs.

Shaheens will now face India A on July 19 at the R Premadasa International Cricket Stadium in Colombo.

Scores in brief: Pakistan Shaheens 309 all out, 49.2 overs (Kamran Ghulam 63, Sahibzada Farhan 63, Saim Ayub 56, Mohammad Haris 55; Jash Giyanani 4-50, Matiullah Khan 2-53). UAE A 125 all out, 29.5 overs (Aryansh Sharma 37, Jonathan Figy 25; Qasim Akram 6-26, Sufiyan Muqeem 3-36).

Result: Pakistan Shaheens beat UAE A by 184 runs.

Player of the match: Qasim Akram (Pakistan Shaheens).