UAE stars from DP World ILT20 help national side qualify for Asia Cup 2025

UAE stars from DP World ILT20 help national side qualify for Asia Cup 2025
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Skipper Mohammed Waseem, batter Alishan Sharafu, pacer Junaid Siddique and other cricketers have expressed their joy for playing a major role in the UAE’s cricket team qualifying for the 2025 Asia Cup after nine long years. (Supplied)
UAE stars from DP World ILT20 help national side qualify for Asia Cup 2025
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Skipper Mohammed Waseem, batter Alishan Sharafu, pacer Junaid Siddique and other cricketers have expressed their joy for playing a major role in the UAE’s cricket team qualifying for the 2025 Asia Cup after nine long years. (Supplied)
UAE stars from DP World ILT20 help national side qualify for Asia Cup 2025
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Skipper Mohammed Waseem, batter Alishan Sharafu, pacer Junaid Siddique and other cricketers have expressed their joy for playing a major role in the UAE’s cricket team qualifying for the 2025 Asia Cup after nine long years. (Supplied)
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Updated 27 April 2024
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UAE stars from DP World ILT20 help national side qualify for Asia Cup 2025

UAE stars from DP World ILT20 help national side qualify for Asia Cup 2025
  • The UAE team’s captain Mohammed Waseem expressed that the exposure they gained during the DP World ILT20 was instrumental in their performance
  • Batter Alishan Sharafu, 21, said: "This was a fantastic team effort, and I am happy I could contribute with the bat”

DUBAI: Skipper Mohammed Waseem, batter Alishan Sharafu, pacer Junaid Siddique and other cricketers have expressed their joy for playing a major role in the UAE’s cricket team qualifying for the 2025 Asia Cup after nine long years.

The UAE team’s captain and skipper Waseem expressed that the exposure they gained during the DP World ILT20 was instrumental in their performance. “It feels incredible to make the Asia Cup,” he commented.

Meanwhile, young batter Sharafu, 21, said: "This was a fantastic team effort, and I am happy I could contribute with the bat.”

Pacer Siddique was “really happy I could do well for the team” and said: “I look forward to more such performances.”

The UAE cricket team qualified after nine long years for the 2025 Asia Cup tournament following a 55-run win over Oman in the ACC Men’s Premier Cup final on Sunday.

Their victory was backed by performances from Waseem as well as Sharafu before pacer Siddique, in the company of Aayan Afzal Khan, led the bowling attack to help UAE win the final. 

Waseem scored 56-ball-century and was well supported by his opening partner Sharafu who contributed 34 to their opening stand of 94 runs.

After putting up 204 on the board, Siddique picked up three wickets for 38 runs in his four overs while Khan finished with figures of two for 29 to restrict Oman to 149-9 in their 20 overs, as they went on to avenge their defeat to Oman earlier in the tournament.

Sharafu, who ended up as the highest run getter of the tournament with 278 runs in six innings, continued his fine form from the DP World ILT20 earlier this year where he played an important role in Sharjah Warriors’ qualification into the play-offs.

Striking at 163.52, with a top score of 90* in UAE’s first game against Kuwait, Sharafu made full use of his opportunity with the UAE senior team to leave a mark at the international level during the ACC Premier Cup and help his team seal a spot in the 2025 Asia Cup.

"I was carrying a lot of confidence from my stint in the DP World ILT20 where I bat against some of the best bowlers in world cricket," said Sharafu.  

According to the 21-year-old the exposure was instrumental, and they have been doing well under their new coach Lalchand Rajput.

Waseem ended the ACC Premier Cup just nine runs behind his opening partner, leading his team by example.

It hasn’t been too long since Waseem lit up the DP World ILT20 2024, where he set the tone at the top for his team, the MI Emirates, who won the championship.

“Playing alongside the best cricketers in the world is a big factor in improving our individual performances as well as a team. I think we are adapting to playing under pressure very well after our experience in these leagues," said Waseem.  

A 24-ball-43 in the DP World ILT20 Final against Dubai Capitals earlier this year and now a century while steering his team to a huge total in the ACC Premier Cup Final proved that Waseem is a big-match player.

"This is the first time in nearly a decade that UAE will be playing this prestigious tournament, and the team is ecstatic," added the 30-year-old.

Impressive at the ACC Premier Cup was another youngster who turned heads at the DP World ILT20 2024 while representing the Gulf Giants. Left-arm spinner Khan continued to spin webs around the batters as he consistently picked up wickets for the UAE senior team including figures of two for 29 in the all-important final against Oman.

With ten wickets in six innings, Aayan picked up ten wickets to finish as his team’s highest wicket taker as well as the second highest wicket taker of the tournament overall.

"I have gained a lot of confidence after my recent experience at the DP World ILT20 where I got to watch and learn from some of the best bowlers in the world. For a youngster like me, exposure like this definitely helps in improving my own performance," said Khan. 

Meanwhile, Siddique picked up six wickets in the five games he played for UAE and was their best bowler in the ACC Premier Cup final.

"Though I did not get too many matches at the DP World ILT20 this year, sharing the dressing room with some of the cricket greats and watching them closely did help me. I am motivated even more to perform well for UAE and showcase my potential," Siddique said. 
 


Test cricket hat-tricks highlight an outstanding group of bowlers

Test cricket hat-tricks highlight an outstanding group of bowlers
Updated 31 October 2024
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Test cricket hat-tricks highlight an outstanding group of bowlers

Test cricket hat-tricks highlight an outstanding group of bowlers
  • The feat has been achieved 46 times in men’s test cricket and three times in women’s Tests

It seems only fair and balanced that, after last week’s coverage of triple centurions, attention should focus on players who have taken hat-tricks in test cricket.

This feat constitutes the bowler taking wickets with three consecutive deliveries, not necessarily in the same over, although this is usually the case. The feat has been achieved 46 times in men’s test cricket and three times in women’s tests. A hat-trick may be considered an equivalent feat to scoring a triple hundred, although the latter may involve greater levels of endurance. This could be reflected in the smaller number of triple centuries — 32 — compared with hat-tricks.

Cricket folklore has it that the term originated in 1858. H. H. Stephenson achieved the feat when playing for the All England Eleven against Hallam and Staveley in Sheffield. By this time, a practice had emerged of taking a crowd collection for professional players who achieved an outstanding feat. On that day, the collection was used to purchase a white hat, which was presented to Stephenson. Records suggest that it was not his first hat-trick that season. Stephenson had already taken two others, both for England, but no award was recorded. His victims were either “veterans” or in the lower order, called rabbits, so perhaps the feats were not deemed outstanding.

The first hat-trick in a test match was claimed by Fred “The Demon” Spofforth for Australia against England in January 1879, in only the third ever test match. This was 50 years before the first triple hundred was scored. It was not long before the next hat-trick was achieved.

Billy Bates of England claimed one at Melbourne in January 1893. By the turn of the 19th century, three more had been taken, all by Englishmen. Johnny Briggs of England at Sydney in February 1892, George Lohmann at Port Elizabeth in February 1896 and Jack Hearne at Leeds against Australia in June 1899, all bowled themselves into cricketing history.

The five hat-tricks at the back end of the 19th century were followed by four in the early part of the 20th. They were remarkable in that only two bowlers were involved. In January 1902 and March 1904, Hugh Trumble of Australia became the first bowler to claim two hat-tricks, both against England. Even more remarkably, he was followed in achieving this feat by Australia’s Jimmy Matthews who claimed two hat-tricks on the same day, May 28, 1912. This was against South Africa at Manchester in a triangular series with England.     

Only two other players have taken two test match hat-tricks. In March 1999, Wasim Akram of Pakistan took a hat-trick in successive tests against Sri Lanka, played as part of the Asian Test Championship. Akram’s first occurred in a group stage match in Lahore, the second in the final, played in Dhaka, a neutral venue. Stuart Broad staged hat-tricks for England against India at Nottingham in July 2011 and against Sri Lanka at Leeds in June 2014.

His achievement in 2011 may not have stood had the Decision Review System been in place. India had not accepted its use at that point. Broad’s first wicket was MS Dhoni caught behind. The second trapped Harbhajan Singh in front with a perfect full-length delivery but replays suggested that Singh had got an inside edge on his bat before the ball hit his pads. The third bowled Praveen Kumar. Broad’s second hat-trick was spread over two overs, the last ball of one and the first two of his next over. The umpire had to remind Broad of his achievement.

Other hat-tricks have generated their own quirks. The first one since 1912 was taken by Maurice Allom in 1930 on his test debut. Two players have achieved the same feat, New Zealand off-spinner Peter Petherick in 1976 and Australian pace bowler, Damien Fleming in 1994, both against Pakistan. One player has taken a hat-trick off the first balls of a test match. This incredible feat was achieved by Sri Lankan seamer Nuwan Zoysa in November 1999 against Zimbabwe. Indian pace bowler, Irfan Pathan claimed a hat-trick in the first over of a test match against Pakistan in 2006.

Although a hat-trick is usually considered as three consecutive balls in the same over, there have been exceptions. Australia’s Merv Hughes claimed one when the wickets fell over three overs. At Perth in 1988, he took a wicket with the final ball of an over. In his next over he took a wicket with the first ball to end the West Indian innings. When the second innings began Hughes claimed a wicket with the first ball. There have been two other occasions when a hat-trick has been taken over two innings, both against Australia by West Indians in 1998 and 2003.

Prior to 1939, eleven hat-tricks out of the 46 had been taken. It is no surprise that as the volume of test cricket increased the potential for hat-tricks increased. It did take until 1957 for the 12th one to be taken — Peter Loader for England against the West Indies. Thereafter, there is no pattern to the frequency. Since 2000, 20 of the 46 have occurred, the latest by Keshav Maharaj for South Africa against the West Indies in June 2021. The most recent one in women’s test cricket was by Rene Farrell for Australia against England in 2011. This was seven years after Shaiza Khan for Pakistan and 53 years since the first one by Betty Wilson for Australia against England in 1958. 

It should be no surprise that some of the game’s finest bowlers have claimed a hat-trick. Shane Warne did so in 1994 and Glenn McGrath in 2000. It is also a surprise that others did not, most notably James Anderson and Muttiah Muralitharan, two of the leading wicket takers in test history. It seems that a specific set of circumstances need to align for the feat to be achieved. There will have been many occasions when two wickets have been claimed in two balls, but the bowler has failed to take a wicket with the next delivery. It is a common feature of both hat-tricks and triple centuries that they are rare and unexpected. Predicting when the next ones will occur is a fool’s game.


England reeling at 24-3 after gritty Shakeel century puts Pakistan in control of third Test

England reeling at 24-3 after gritty Shakeel century puts Pakistan in control of third Test
Updated 26 October 2024
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England reeling at 24-3 after gritty Shakeel century puts Pakistan in control of third Test

England reeling at 24-3 after gritty Shakeel century puts Pakistan in control of third Test
  • Shakeel batted with composure and reached his fourth Test hundred with a single off Rehan in a resistance-packed innings
  • The series is tied at 1-1 after England won the first Test by an innings and 47 runs while Pakistan took the second by 152 runs, both in Multan

RAWALPINDI: Spinners Sajid Khan and Noman Ali left England reeling at 24-3 after Saud Shakeel’s fighting hundred put Pakistan in control of the series-deciding third Test in Rawalpindi on Friday.

England came in looking to erase a deficit of 77 but had no answers for the Pakistan spinners on a turning pitch.

Sajid dismissed Ben Duckett for 12 and Noman Ali removed Zak Crawley (two) and Ollie Pope (one) in the space of five runs.

When bad light ended the second day’s play with five overs remaining, Joe Root and Harry Brook were at the crease on five and three respectively.

England still need 53 runs to avoid an innings defeat with seven wickets in hand and three days left to play.

The series is tied at 1-1 after England won the first Test by an innings and 47 runs while Pakistan took the second by 152 runs, both in Multan.

On another day dominated by spin, Shakeel’s brilliant 134 was the highlight, pulling Pakistan within touching distance of a first home Test series win since they defeated South Africa in February 2021.

Shakeel anchored Pakistan’s innings, lifting them from a precarious 177-7 to 344 all out.

“We had an idea that this pitch will help spinners so with that in mind I prepared myself,” said Shakeel, admitting it was one of his best knocks.

The left-hander held Pakistan’s innings together with a gritty knock spread over 322 minutes and 223 balls, hitting just five boundaries.

“A hundred is a hundred and it’s the best feeling and now we are in the best stage of the match.”

But leg-spinner Rehan Ahmed, who was the pick of the England bowlers, said his team had plenty of fight left.

“I think we are still quite positive with so much batting to come so we are still very positive in the changing room come tomorrow,” he said.

Ahmed took 4-66 while off-spinner Shoaib Bashir finished with 3-129.

The 29-year-old Shakeel defied England with an eighth wicket stand of 88 alongside Noman who made 45 before falling in the final over ahead of the tea break to spinner Bashir.

Shakeel added another 72 for the ninth wicket with Sajid who scored an unbeaten career-best 48.

Shakeel was finally caught off a miscued pull off pacer Gus Atkinson while Ahmed dismissed the last man Zahid Mahmood for nought.

The visitors looked to be in control when young spinner Ahmed bagged three quick wickets to leave Pakistan teetering at the end of the first session.

England were eyeing a lead after Ahmed’s burst left Pakistan on 187-7 at lunch but the Shakeel-Noman stand turned those expectations into frustration.

Shakeel batted with composure and reached his fourth Test hundred with a single off Rehan in a resistance-packed innings.

Noman — surviving a leg-before decision on review and a dropped catch off Root— assisted Shakeel admirably, hitting a six and two fours as the duo helped Pakistan add 80 in the second session.

Rehan sent Mohammad Rizwan (25), Salman Agha (one) and Aamer Jamal (14) back to the pavilion and threatened to derail Pakistan.

England’s frontline spinners Jack Leach and Bashir could not extract the same sharp turn from the pitch as rival Sajid Khan, who took 6-128 on Thursday.

Pakistan resumed the day at 73-3 in search of a sizeable lead to press for a series win.

But Shakeel was the only top-order batter able to build a meaningful innings after reaching double figures.


An elite club of triple centurions

An elite club of triple centurions
Updated 24 October 2024
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An elite club of triple centurions

An elite club of triple centurions
  • The most recent of 32 players to achieve that landmark was England’s Harry Brook against Pakistan in Multan on Oct. 10

For an individual to score 300 runs or more in a single innings must be regarded as the pinnacle of batting achievement. This feat of supreme technical skill, concentration and physical endurance has been achieved 32 times in Test cricket by 28 men. The most recent was Harry Brook for England against Pakistan in Multan on Oct. 10 this year.

Brook shared a partnership of 454 runs with Joe Root, one of the finest batters of his generation, now the fifth highest scoring player in Test match history. Root reached 262, the closest he has come to the magical figure.

Once a player reaches the pinnacle, is that an end in itself or are expectations heightened for future performances?

Scoring 300 is not a reliable predictor of future success — ask Brook and Root. In the second Test in Multan they scored 23 and 52, respectively. Although it was the same pitch, its condition was deteriorating, allowing Pakistan’s spinners to exert control. The result levelled the series and brought England back to ground.

The circumstances under which triple hundreds have been scored vary, as do the consequences for those who managed to do so. The distribution of the 32 scores over time is very uneven. Until 1990, it was a reasonable quiz question to ask — name the 10 players who have scored a triple hundred in Tests. All but three were either English or Australian.

The exceptions were Hanif Mohammad of Pakistan, and West Indians Garfield Sobers and Laurence Rowe. Not only was Rowe the only player to have scored a triple hundred in the 1970s, but he was also the only one to do so between 1966 and 1990. Sadly, his career was cut short by an eye condition and injury.

Prior to Sobers and Mohammad in 1958, all previous triple hundreds were scored in the 1930s. The first was in April 1930 by Andrew Sandham of England, aged 39, against the West Indies. This was Sandham’s final Test match and was also a “timeless” Test. On the eighth day, bad weather prevented any play and a draw was agreed. Three months later, Donald Bradman scored 334 against England at Leeds, only to be outscored by England’s Wally Hammond with 336 in 1934. All were eclipsed by Len Hutton’s undefeated 364 against Australia in 1938.

These players were the cream of their generation and it is no surprise that their abilities were expressed in terms of triple hundreds. Some fortune is often needed along the way. Hutton survived a fumbled stumping opportunity and was facing a below-strength fast bowling attack. Hammond gave three chances against a New Zealand bowling attack that was new to Test cricket.

There is no mention of dropped chances in Hanif’s innings of 970 minutes, the longest in Test cricket, an astonishing feat of endurance. He succeeded in saving the first Test match for Pakistan against the West Indies in 1958. In the third Test of the same series, Sobers, aged 21, was facing criticism for failing to realize his potential. Three key Pakistani bowlers suffered injuries and Sobers took full advantage on a benign pitch. It is typical of the man that his first hundred in Test cricket should be a triple.

Two other players have achieved that feat. One was Australia’s Bobby Simpson against England in 1964. Remarkably, Simpson, who had been playing Test cricket for seven years, often as an opener, had failed to score a century in that time. His triple century was also the first scored by the captain of a Test team. India’s Karun Nair was the other player to turn a first hundred into a triple. Blessed with outstanding talent, he made his debut for India against England in November 2016. In the next Test, he scored 303 from 381 deliveries faced. He played only four more Tests, his last innings against Australia in March 2017, when he scored five, after which he was sidelined. His triple hundred was no predictor of future success.

Brian Lara is the only player to have scored 400 in a Test match. This was in 2004 against England in Antigua. England led 3-0 in the four-match series and Lara’s captaincy was under threat. England’s bowling attack was weakened by injury and illness during the match and he took advantage, batting 13 hours and facing 582 deliveries. The feat was not universally applauded. Some called it a selfish act, not in the interests of his team. As it was, England were able to save the match, batting long into its second innings.

This innings by Lara was in very different circumstances to the one 10 years earlier when he scored 375 against England, also in Antigua. Although he batted for a similar length of time, he faced fewer deliveries (358). There had been an expectation for some time that Lara was the player who could surpass Sobers’ record. In the series, West Indies led 2-1 and a benign pitch provided Lara with the opportunity. When he overtook Sobers’ score of 365 the crowd erupted, flooding the field, along with assorted camera crews.

Lara’s record stood for almost 10 years, broken in October 2003 by Australia’s Matthew Hayden, who bullied a weak Zimbabwean attack and scored an unbeaten 380. Perhaps this rankled, making Lara determined to reclaim the record when the chance came six months later. In the same year, Lara also made the highest ever first-class score, an unbeaten 501 for Warwickshire against Durham.

If there are any common themes amongst the triple centurions, it is that there was sufficient time in the game for the feat to be achieved — all but two were scored in a first innings. They took advantage of the opportunity by dint of a mix of skill, good fortune, benign pitches, weakened bowling attacks and extreme physical effort. A number of players have fallen short, the saddest being Martin Crowe of New Zealand. In 1991, he edged to the wicketkeeper on 299. How that must have haunted him.


Mehidy fifty steers Bangladesh toward parity at 201-6

Mehidy fifty steers Bangladesh toward parity at 201-6
Updated 23 October 2024
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Mehidy fifty steers Bangladesh toward parity at 201-6

Mehidy fifty steers Bangladesh toward parity at 201-6
  • All-rounder Mehidy was 55 not out at the break in Mirpur, bringing up his half-century off 92 balls and hitting seven fours and a six. Jaker was still there on 30

MIRPUR: Mehidy Hasan Miraz and debutant Jaker Ali put on an unbroken 89 for the seventh wicket stand to steer Bangladesh to 201-6 at lunch on day three of the first Test against South Africa on Wednesday.
All-rounder Mehidy was 55 not out at the break in Mirpur, bringing up his half-century off 92 balls and hitting seven fours and a six. Jaker was still there on 30.
Bangladesh resumed at 101-3, needing 202 to make South Africa bat again, and were staring at an innings defeat when they lost three wickets for only 11 runs at the start of the session to be 112-6
Pace bowler Kagiso Rabada took advantage of overcast conditions to take two wickets in three balls during the fifth over.
Mahmudul Hasan Joy departed after making 40 when his attempted drive found a thick edge to first slip, where David Bedingham took the catch.
Rabada’s fourth wicket of the innings came two balls later as he sent Mushfiqur Rahim’s middle stump cartwheeling out of the ground with a full delivery that nipped back. The right-hander had made 33.
Wicketkeeper Litton Das followed for just seven as he edged a sharply turning delivery from Keshav Maharaj to wicketkeeper Kyle Verreynne and the dismissal was confirmed as caught on review, after an initial shout for lbw.
South Africa scored 308 in their first innings on Tuesday, powered by Verreynne’s second Test century, in reply to Bangladesh’s 106 all out on the first day.
Bangladesh are yet to win a Test against South Africa. The second and final match of the series begins on October 29 in Chattogram.


Afghanistan include uncapped Atal for Bangladesh ODIs

Afghanistan include uncapped Atal for Bangladesh ODIs
Updated 23 October 2024
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Afghanistan include uncapped Atal for Bangladesh ODIs

Afghanistan include uncapped Atal for Bangladesh ODIs

KABUL: Afghanistan selectors on Tuesday named prolific opener Sediqullah Atal in their 19-man squad for next month’s three-match one-day international series against Bangladesh in Sharjah.
Atal, 23, has previously played six Twenty20 internationals for Afghanistan and earned his maiden call for the ODIs after scoring consistently in the ongoing Emerging Asia Cup in Oman.
Besides Atal, left-arm spinner Noor Ahmad also staged a comeback after missing Afghanistan’s 2-1 series win over South Africa, also in Sharjah last month.
Afghanistan Cricket Board chief selector Ahmad Shah Sulimankhil described Atal as a future player.
“We have included a promising top-order batter in Sediqullah Atal, who has impressed everyone with his consistent top performances,” Sulimankhil is quoted in Afghanistan Cricket Board release.
Atal has scores of 52, 95 not out and 83 in the Emerging Asia Cup.
Opener Naveed Zadran is recovering from an ankle surgery while spinner Mujeeb Ur Rahman is sidelined by a sprain to his right hand.
The three matches are scheduled for November 6, 9 and 11.
The series will help Afghanistan prepare for the eight-nation Champions Trophy to be held in Pakistan from February to March next year.
Afghanistan are on a high in limited overs cricket, having beaten top nations including England, Pakistan and Sri Lanka in last year’s ODI World Cup held in India.
They also qualified for the semifinals of the Twenty20 World Cup jointly held in the United States and the West Indies in June.

Squad: Hashmatullah Shahidi (capt), Rahmat Shah, Rahmanullah Gurbaz, Ikram Alikhil, Abdul Malik, Riaz Hassan, Sediqullah Atal, Darwish Rasooli, Azmatullah Omarzai, Mohammad Nabi, Gulbadin Naib, Rashid Khan, Nangyal Kharoti, AM Ghazanfar, Noor Ahmad, Fazalhaq Farooqi, Bilal Sami, Naveed Zadran, Farid Ahmad Malik