Associate rivals Canada, UAE aim to bounce back after heavy losses
Bogged down by heavy opening losses, Canada and the UAE would be eager to make amends when they take on each other in a Group D clash of the T20 World Cup on Friday. Drawn into the “Group of Death” alongside three top-10 teams — New Zealand, South Africa and Afghanistan — both the UAE and Canada face a daunting and unlikely task of making the Super Eight stage.
Their campaigns got off to disappointing starts, with both sides suffering massive defeats. While Canada, which dominated the Americas Regional Final by winning all six matches, lost their opener to South Africa by 57 runs, the UAE was handed a 10-wicket thrashing by New Zealand.
Canada’s lack of high-quality match exposure over the last four months was evident in their opener. The side was erratic against South Africa, taking some sharp catches but also spilling regulation chances and committing several misfields. However, there were some positives as well. They showed grit in their chase of 214, rebuilding their innings after losing early wickets. Left-arm wrist-spinner Ansh Patel impressed with his variations, removing key batters, including Aiden Markram, while Navneet Dhaliwal’s half-century and middle-order batter Harsh Thaker’s form was encouraging.
“There’s a lot to take, there’s a lot of positives to take... You know Navneet’s innings and the way that we built an innings after losing four wickets. Even with the ball I don’t think we were that bad in the start we could have executed better.” Thaker had said after the game against South Africa. The United Arab Emirates, meanwhile, continues to grow as a competitive associate side, having rattled some full member teams in recent years. They will once again bank on their big-hitting captain Muhammad Waseem and Alishan Sharafu to bring their World Cup campaign back on track.
With the ball, UAE looked off colour against New Zealand. The onus will be on left-arm spinner Haider Ali to stifle batters with his accuracy, while seasoned pacer Junaid Siddique could prove effective with his yorkers. “I think we have to work out how we have to bowl, which line, which length. We have to bowl to the batsman. I think we will look for that in the next games,” Waseem said after the loss against the Kiwis. UAE will also draw confidence from their T20 World Cup Qualifier clash against Canada in 2019, when they defeated the North American side by 14 runs.
