Oman were 13 for four inside four overs, and UAE had already lost five wickets for 13

Oman lost four wickets in the first four overs of their chase at Bangi on Tuesday and never got near 193. That would be the whole story, except that the United Arab Emirates had spent the morning doing something similar to themselves. They were 92 without loss and then lost five wickets for 13 runs. One collapse was survivable. The other was not.

92 for none, then 105 for five

Oman put UAE in and watched Tanish Suri and Adeeb Usmani put on 92 in a shade under 19 overs. Suri made 48 off 53, Usmani 40 off 65, and at that point UAE looked like a side heading for 280.

Then Suri was caught off Nadeem Khan, Usmani went to Hassnain Shah, and the middle order fell apart. Harpreet Singh, the captain, made six. Rahul Chopra was lbw for nought. Sohaib Khan was caught for nought off six balls. In just over seven overs UAE had gone from 92 without loss to 105 for five, and Jay Odedra’s 5.1 overs ended up costing 17 runs and taking three wickets.

Akshdeep Nath and Aayan Afzal Khan put 67 on for the sixth wicket to make the innings respectable. Nath made 33, Afzal Khan 37, and UAE were all out for 192 with 11 balls unused. Hassnain Shah finished with three for 48 and Shakeel Ahmed two for 29.

Oman were 13 for four in the fourth over

Khuzaima Tanveer had Karan Sonavale caught in the first over. He had Jatinder Singh lbw in the third over, then had Jay Odedra caught behind five balls after that. Ibrar Ahmad, on ODI debut, trapped Mujibur Ali in the next over. Oman were 13 for four with 46 overs to bat and 180 still needed.

Jiten Ramanandi made 51 off 70, the only fifty of the match, and with Hammad Mirza and then Vinayak Shukla he got Oman to 101 for six. It was never a chase, just a delay. Ramanandi was the seventh out at 107, and the last three wickets brought 36 runs.

Oman’s 143 included 23 extras, 17 of them wides, which tells you UAE’s bowling was not immaculate. It did not need to be.

Aayan Afzal Khan is 20

The left-arm spinner came on and took five for 34 from 8.5 overs, finishing the innings by bowling Nadeem Khan and having Hassnain Shah caught. Add the 37 he made when UAE were five down and in trouble, and he had a fair claim on the match before anyone handed him the award. He got it anyway.

Sanju Sajeev, on ODI debut for Oman, was left unbeaten on 15 at the other end when it finished. Ibrar Ahmad debuted for UAE in the same match.

Both teams are in the semi-finals anyway

The 49-run defeat cost Oman nothing. They finish second in Group B on four points and play Nepal in Kuala Lumpur on Thursday. UAE top the group with four wins from four and a net run rate of 1.979, and they meet Hong Kong at Bangi on the same day.

UAE are the defending champions here, and the team they beat in the 2024 final was Oman. Whoever wins on Saturday takes the one qualification place at the 2027 Asia Cup, which is the only prize in this tournament that matters.

Stay across the road to the 2027 Asia Cup