The United Arab Emirates secured a thrilling five-wicket triumph against Canada, requiring only two deliveries remaining at the Arun Jaitley Stadium, sustaining their qualification prospects in a challenging group featuring New Zealand, South Africa and Afghanistan. Pursuing a target of 151, the UAE encountered significant difficulties at 66 for 4 during the 13th over, yet an extraordinary fifth-wicket stand between Aryansh Sharma (74* off 53) and Sohaib Khan (51 off 29) completely reversed the match dynamics. This partnership accumulated 84 runs from merely 42 balls, converting what appeared to be a straightforward Canadian triumph into a devastating loss.
TOSS
Canada secured the coin toss and elected to bat first.
PLAYING XI
United Arab Emirates (Playing XI):
Aryansh Sharma(w), Muhammad Waseem(c), Alishan Sharafu, Mayank Kumar, Sohaib Khan, Harshit Kaushik, Muhammad Arfan, Muhammad Farooq, Haider Ali, Junaid Siddique, Muhammad Jawadullah
Canada (Playing XI):
Dilpreet Bajwa(c), Yuvraj Samra, Navneet Dhaliwal, Nicholas Kirton, Shreyas Movva(w), Harsh Thaker, Saad Bin Zafar, Jaskaran Singh, Dilon Heyliger, Kaleem Sana, Ansh Patel
CANADA
Canada’s batting display was constructed upon differing phases. Following their early collapse to 38 for 3 within the PowerPlay period, Harsh Thaker and Navneet Dhaliwal rehabilitated the innings through a crucial 58-run collaboration. Thaker, demonstrating growing confidence throughout his innings, completed his fifty from 40 deliveries, only to be dismissed on the subsequent ball.
Basically, Shreyas Movva made a useful 21 at number six, and Heyliger hit a six on the last ball to push Canada to 150 for 7 – the same total looked competitive on Delhi’s tricky pitch. Basically, Junaid Siddique was the main bowler for Canada and took five wickets, which was the same as leading their bowling attack. The right-arm fast bowler surely changed his bowling speed very well, taking out both opening batsmen early and then removing the middle and tail-end batsmen to finish with 5 wickets for 35 runs. Moreover, these were the second-best bowling figures by any Associate nation player in T20 World Cup history. Those runs he saved surely became very important for UAE’s final victory. Moreover, his fielding efforts played a key role in the team’s success.
UNITED ARAB EMIRATES-
Aryansh batted through the entire innings and anchored the chase with great composure, further proving himself as a reliable wicketkeeper-batter in only his second T20 World Cup match. Further, basically, his 53-ball innings with six fours and three sixes was the same masterclass in handling a difficult chase. Sohaib Khan further sealed the victory with his brilliant knock of 51 runs from 29 balls, which itself included four fours and four sixes.
Aryansh surely scored a half-century, but UAE was still far from the target. Moreover, they needed 63 runs in the last five overs to win the match. The match changed completely in the 17th over when Sohaib hit Dilon Heyliger for two sixes and one four, and we are seeing that only 17 runs were taken off from the target. Sohaib further attacked in the next over itself, hitting Jaskaran Singh for another four and six before running for two runs despite slipping after the first run.
As per the match situation, twenty-six runs were still needed from the last two overs, but the team scored eighteen runs in the 19th over which decided the game result. Sohaib was dismissed by Jaskaran Singh when the scores were level at 150, as he was caught by Nicholas Kirton at mid-on, which further reduced his team’s chances. The dismissal itself came at a crucial moment in the match. Basically, Muhammad Arfan hit the winning runs and the UAE team celebrated the same way with great joy.
Brief scores:
Canada scored 150/7 in 20 overs with Harsh Thaker making 50 runs, but Junaid Siddique took 5 wickets for 35 runs. UAE chased the target itself in 19.4 overs scoring 151/5, where Aryansh Sharma remained unbeaten on 74 and Sohaib Khan made 51, while Saad Bin Zafar further took 3 wickets for 14 runs, and UAE won by 5
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