UAE, Oman unbeaten in Gulf Cup

Hosts UAE and Oman chalked up convincing victories in their respective matches to stay unbeaten in the Gulf Cup cricket tournament being played at the Sharjah stadium on Friday night. Hosts UAE rode on fluent half-centuries by their openers Saeed Al Saffar and Qais Farooq to beat Kuwait by 169 runs while Oman accounted for Saudi Arabia by 10 wickets as both the matches turned out to be one-sided affairs. Saffar smashed 72 off 33 balls with five fours and four sixes while Qais weighed in with 71 off 42 balls with four fours and two sixes during their first wicket stand of 159 runs. UAE, batting first, posted a massive 261 for five in the allotted 20 overs. Salman Farooq (21 off 16 balls) and Mohammed Tauqir (29 off 12 balls with four fours and one six) further consolidated the gains, but it was Fahad Hashmi (38 off 11 balls with two fours and four sixes) who ended the innings with a flourish. Hasmi sixes were a threat to watch as he put the Kuwaiti attack to the sword. He took risks but was also alert when defending good balls. His rapid fire 38 took the rival bowlers by surprise as they had no answer to his bat, despite trying all the new tricks they had up their sleeve. Kuwait, in reply, were restricted to 92 for eight with Salman Farooq taking three wickets for just 14 runs. Only two players, Fahad Bastaki (34) and AR Kandari (18), managed to reach the double figure mark. Farooq was accurate with his bowling and gave no room to the Kuwaiti batsmen to score. Alawi Al Bakri claimed two wickets whilst conceding 22 runs. Saeed Al Saffar of the UAE was named the man of the match. In the other match, Oman comfortably held sway over Saudi Arabia. They first shot out their opponents for a meagre 57 and then raced the victory target in just 7.3 overs. Mohammed Shaikh scored 11 while Rayyan Hasmi remained unbeaten on 12. Khalid Moosa toyed with the Saudi attacked, scoring 52 not out off just 30 balls with 10 fours and one six. Earlier, Qais Bin Khalid and Yousuf Rahim ran through the tentative Saudi batting, picking up three wickets each while Mohammed Ishaq further added to their woes with a two-wicket haul. Khalid conceded 16 runs while Rahim gave away just nine runs as both bowled deadly deliveries.  Qais Bin Khalid of Oman was named the man of the match.