Spinners to the fore as UAE triumphs over Namibia

UAE win
UAE win

The United Arab Emirates' spinners hunted in a pack to beat Namibia by 34 runs on Day 3 of the clash in Windhoek, bowling the home side out for 180 in 66.2 overs. The defeat meant Namibia would remain at bottom of the Intercontinental Cup points table.

Early on Monday, UAE extended its score from 116 for 6 to 157 to set the a target of 215 for Namibia. Ahmed Raza fell without adding a run to his overnight 14. But Saqlain Haider, resuming on eight, stitched together two handy partnerships. He added 19 for the eighth wicket with Imran Haider (13) and did the bulk of the scoring in a 21-run stand for the 10th wicket with Qadeer Ahmed (0*), before becoming Craig Williams's fifth wicket for 29. Williams ended with 5 for 22.

Sarel Burger, the right-arm seamer, chipped in with the wickets of Raza and Haider after going wicketless in the first innings.

In the chase, Namibia’s top order crumbled against UAE’s variety of spinners. After Qadeer, the right-arm seamer, provided the opening breakthrough by dismissing Lohan Louwrens for a duck, the spinners took over, Williams offering the sole resistance with an enterprising 48.

Stephan Baard was sent back for 12 by Raza, who took six wickets in the first innings. Imran Haider, the legspinner, then dismissed Karl Birkenstock and Jan Frylinck in the 15th over as the home side slipped from 51 for 2 to 51 for 4.

Gerhard Erasmus had scored a gritty 78 not out in Namibia's 212 in the first innings, but was done in by Rohan Mustafa's off-spin for just 12 this time, bringing an end to a 38-run stand between him and Williams. Williams, who struck three sixes and four fours, slowed down as wickets kept falling, but himself fell prey to Raza's left-arm spin as UAE inched closer.

At 134 for 9, victory seemed near at hand for the visiting side, but the last-wicket pair of Bernard Scholtz (28) and Petrus Burger (19*) first frustrated the bowlers and then threatened to take the game away. However, their 46-run stand was brought to a close through a run out.

Mustafa, who contributed decent hands of 36 and 29 in his two digs, was the leading wicket-taker with 3 for 38. Raza and Haider took two apiece, while Qadeer and Mohammad Naveed had one wicket each.

With just one win from its six games in this edition of the Intercontinental Cup, Namibia, with 27 points, will remain at the bottom of the table. UAE, who also began the game with 27 points from five matches, earned 14 points through its second outright win and has jumped to the No. 4 position, but with two games between other competing teams still to go, it could slip lower.

The next game of the tournament will be hosted by Papua New Guinea against Scotland, starting from October 1. In the concluding game of the tournament, Hong Kong will take on Afghanistan from October 20.