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United Arab Emirates 177 for 4 (Suri 78) beat Netherlands 176 (Mustafa 5-26) by six wickets
Harare: A five-for for Rohan Mustafa and a half-century from Chirag Suri led United Arab Emirates to a comfortable six-wicket win over the Netherlands to boost their hopes at the ICC Cricket World Cup Qualifier 2018.
UAE responded to losing the toss and being told to field with an excellent team performance, Rohan Mustafa picking up 5/26 to headline an impressive bowling display.
The Netherlands will be disappointed to have been bowled out for just 176 especially after Wesley Barresi and Max O'Dowd got off to a promising start. The pair added 52 runs for the opening wicket in a shade over 10 overs before the latter became Mustafa's first victim, lbw for 12.
Two run outs followed to dent Netherlands further. A horrible miscommunication ended Ben Cooper's innings on 1, while Barresi was also found short of his crease by Chirag Suri for 37 as the Netherlands slipped to 67/3 in the 16th over. That soon became 82/4 with Mustafa accounting for his opposite number Peter Borren for 8.
Ryan ten Doeschate and Roelof van der Merwe put together a 33-run stand for the fifth wicket, but with the surface aiding spin, the Netherlands found scoring difficult. It got worse as ten Doeschate, trying to break the shackles, went down the wicket to Ahmed Raza but only sent it as far as Amir Hayat at long-off to depat for 34.
Van der Merwe soon followed suit, bowled by Mustafa for 17 with the scoreboard reading 138/6. It was a swift end after that with Mustafa claiming the last two wickets as the Netherlands were unable to bat their full quota of overs.
UAE didn't have everything their own way during their pursuit of 177, at one point losing three wickets for the addition of just 14 runs to leave them 84/4, opener Chirag Suri and wicket-keeper Ghulam Shabber having added 57 for the second wicket to help UAE steady the ship after the early loss of Mustafa to Timm van der Gugten for 11.
Paul van Meekeren, van der Merwe and Pieter Seelar then each claimed a wicket to stir Dutch hopes of a comeback. Shabber was bowled attempting a scoop, Rameez Shahzad chipped one back to Seelar, before van Meekeren brought one back into strike Shaiman Anwar on the pads to leave UAE in a bit of trouble.
But Suri and Muhammad Usman calmed UAE's nerves, through their match-winning unbeaten stand of 93, the former finishing on 78, just three short of his List A best.
The result leaves the Netherlands with two losses in their opening two games, meaning they face an uphill struggle to qualify for the Super Sixes. Their campaign continues against Papua New Guinea on Saturday 10 March.
