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Sharjah: The Essex County team survived a scare from the UAE team in the opening match of the Arch Trophy tournament at the Sharjah Cricket Stadium.
Electing to bat, Essex scored 267 in 48 overs. In reply, the UAE chased the target brilliantly, but fell short by just 10 runs when their challenge ended in the 46th over.
"It was unfortunate that we could not shock such a strong team made up of Test players. We could have made it as we had a few overs remaining, but we stumbled towards the end," UAE skipper Saqib Ali told Gulf News.
"The turning point of the match was the dismissal of Khurram Khan and myself at a crucial juncture. However, this performance has given us the confidence to take on Lancashire," added Ali, who had hit 192 against Ireland in the ICC Intercontinental Cup on Sunday.
In their next match, the UAE take on Lancashire made up of star England players like Andrew Flintoff, Sajid Mahmoud, Dominic Cork and Stuart Law today at the Sharjah stadium from 2pm.
Essex will next meet Lancashire on Sunday.
Essex won the toss and elected to bat on a lovely batting track. Fahad Al Hashimi, UAE's policeman-turned-cricketer, struck the first blow. He dismissed Essex skipper Mark Pettini for 2.
Former Zimbabwe player Grant Flower and England's rising star Ravi Bopara added 74 runs for the second wicket. Amjad Javed then provided the breakthrough, having Flower caught at gully by Arshad Ali for 25. Bopara too fell to Khurram Khan for 46.
Tom Westley then kept the scoreboard moving and with Tim Philips, put on 92 for the fifth wicket to steer Essex past the 200 mark.
The UAE openers chased the target with determination. Bakhtiyar and Arshad Ali put on 66 runs before Ali was trapped leg-before for 20. Chambers then had one-drop Vikrant Shetty caught behind for 1.
Indika joined Bakhtiyar and kept the run rate going. With the score on 121, Bakhtiyar's 64-ball innings ended. He hit 72 with 12 fours. Indika almost guided UAE to victory, but was run out for 54. UAE's inform batsman Khurram too fell for 27 to Bopara.
Essex introduced Ryan Tendonschate and he trapped skipper Ali leg before for 4 and ran through the tail picking three more quick wickets to end UAE's chase.
"All the teams here are strong sides. Sussex could be our strongest opponents as we always had good games against them," said Essex skipper Pettini.
Brief scores
Essex beat UAE by 10 runs: Essex: 267 in 48 overs (Grant Flower 25, Ravi Bopara 46, Tom Westley 66, Tim Philips 47; Sameer Zia 3 for 64, Khurram Khan 2 for 33). UAE: 257 in 46 overs (Bakhtiyar 72, Indika 54, Khurram Khan 27, Amjad Ali 27n.o., Ryan Tendonschate 4 for 43). Man of the Match: Ryan Tendonschate.
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