UAE v Ireland, 2nd ODI, Dubai — Preview
Ireland, high on confidence after a strong performance with both bat and ball in the opening One-Day International against the United Arab Emirates, will be keen to wrap up its short two-match tour with a comprehensive series win when the teams meet again on Saturday (March 4).
The visiting side’s 85-run victory at the ICC Academy in Dubai on Thursday was built on the efforts of William Porterfield, the captain, who smashed a 116-ball 100 and his 124-run stand for the fourth wicket with Kevin O’Brien.
O’Brien celebrated the sixth anniversary of his World Cup record century against England in Bangalore with another blazing display, his 53-ball 69 including seven fours and a six.
The duo’s ability to stabilise the innings after initial hiccups – Ireland was at 14 for 2 – bodes well for the side. They also did enough to ensure the collapse at the backend of the innings didn’t hurt the side too much, but Ireland will know more of its batsmen need to step up.
“It’s great to start the tour with a win, as the pitch was doing a bit early on,” said Porterfield after the game. “After losing a couple of wickets we showed great character to rebuild, and we had a few really good partnerships in the middle.
“Kevin O’Brien did a great job for us, although we would have liked a few more runs in the last ten overs and that would have given us a great all-round batting performance.”
Also encouraging was the combined bowling effort that pulled things back after UAE reached 66 for 2 in the first ten overs. George Dockrell was the pick of the lot with 3 for 27, as the home side were bowled out for 185 chasing 271.
“They came at us hard in the first ten overs of their innings, but I was really pleased as to how the lads came back and stuck to their plans,” said Porterfield. “To take ten wickets on that surface was a great effort. The most pleasing thing is that I feel we have more to give with both bat and ball.”
While a positive result is, of course, important for Ireland, it has also benefitted from the experience on playing in Asian conditions before its big tour of India from March 8. Ireland will take on Afghanistan in three T20 Internationals and five ODIs in Greater Noida before its Intercontinental Cup game.
UAE too has Intercontinental Cup and World Cricket League matches, against Papua New Guinea coming up in April. It will want to rediscover the form that took it to ODI wins over Scotland and Hong Kong recently, and take some momentum into those engagements.
The highlight for it, apart from the good start its openers got, was the 6 for 34 for Zahoor Khan, the best ODI figures for a UAE bowler.
“Sometimes you have to accept the fact batsmen will have a good day. As a bowling side, you might do well as well, but not be able to assert your authority like you otherwise would do,” said Dougie Brown, the coach.
It is an inexperienced UAE side with a coach and captain just finding their feet, but it appears confident that it will bounce back.
Teams (from):
UAE: Rohan Mustafa (capt), Shaiman Anwar, Adnan Mufti, Mohammed Usman, Ghulam Shabbir (wk), Mohammed Qasim, Amjad Javed, Mohammed Naveed, Ahmed Raza, Imran Haider, Zahoor Khan, Qadeer Ahmed, Rameez Shahzad, Laxman Sreekumar.
Ireland: William Porterfield (capt), Paul Stirling, Ed Joyce, Gary Wilson (wk), Kevin O’Brien, Niall O’Brien, George Dockrell, Barry McCarthy, Tim Murtagh, Andy Balbirnie, Andy McBrine, Jacob Mulder, Stuart Thompson, Craig Young.
