The day after rain took away the chance of a win in their maiden Twenty20 International appearance that ended in a washout, USA came up 24 runs short to the UAE to lose their first ever competed T20I and with it the series
Watch back on the full match below from the live stream of today’s match at the ICC Academy Oval in Dubai.
USA captain, Saurabh Netravalkar lost his second toss in two days but this time the UAE had a change of tactic and decided to bat first after USA had made such impressive first use of the batting surface the day before. Jessy Singh took an early wicket and it was advantage USA early as UAE limped to 23 for 1 after 4 overs.
Shaiman Anwar and Rohan Mustafa started to find their top gear though in a partnership of 81 and although Mustafa fell for 45, Anwar pressed the accelerator and smashed a trio of straight sixes off Timil Patel before USA’s leg-spinner had his revenge in the same over. The Emirati veteran’s innings of 62 off just 30 balls had swung the advantage to the hosts, although USA were left to rue a couple of missed chances in the field.
Impressive spells from Netravalkar and Walsh Jnr though brought USA back into the game with 4 wickets shared between them but the USA would need to overhaul the hosts total of 182 for 7.
After the early loss of Patel, who was followed by Malhotra for 21 on the final ball of the powerplay, USA got their chase into motion with Steven Taylor combining well with Xavier Marshall. They put on 72 together in 9 overs but with the required run-rate starting to grow quickly, both were caught in the deep to leave the middle order needing over 14 an over.
There was a late flourish from Elmore Hutchinson with 3 consecutive boundaries but USA couldn’t quite catch up with the required rate and were left wondering what might have been in this series as UAE ran out 24 run winners.
You can see the full scorecard by clicking here.
The two sides now move on to the first in a series of 50 Overs matches as the full focus of Team USA switches to their preparations ahead of the crucial ICC World Cricket League Division 2 in Namibia next month.
Team USA schedule in UAE:
March 15 – USA v UAE (2pm) – T20I – ICC Academy Oval 1, Dubai – NO RESULT
March 16 – USA v UAE (2pm) – T20I – ICC Academy Oval 1, Dubai – LOST BY 24 RUNS
March 18 – USA v UAE (10am) – 50 Overs – ICC Academy Oval 1, Dubai
March 19 – USA v Lancashire (10am) – 50 Overs – ICC Academy Oval 1, Dubai
March 21 – USA v UAE XI (10am) – 50 Overs – Sevens Cricket Ground, Dubai
March 22 – USA v UAE XI (10am) – 50 Overs – Sevens Cricket Ground, Dubai
March 24 – USA v UAE XI (10am) – 50 Overs – Sevens Cricket Ground, Dubai
March 25 – USA v UAE (10am) – 50 Overs – Sevens Cricket Ground, Dubai
March 28 – USA v UAE (10am) – 50 Overs – Sevens Cricket Ground, Dubai
Steven Taylor top scored for the 2nd time in 2 days with 49.
