Ton-up Emon steers Bangladesh to facile victory over UAE in T20 opener

Riding on Parvez Hossain Emon's cracking century, Bangladesh defeated a new-look UAE by 21 runs in their first game of the two-match T20I series in Sharjah on Saturday.

- Mohammad Abdullah

Three UAE players - Matiullah, Mohammad Zobair, and Jawadullah - made their T20I debut.

After posting a fighting total of 191/7, Bangladesh restricted UAE to 164 to take a 1-0 lead in the series.

UAE captain Muhammad Waseem came out with a positive mindset as he gave them a blistering start. Waseem and Muhammad Zohaib put up a quick-fire 40 runs for the first wicket to set the tone for a close chase.

Waseem was so brutal that the contribution of Zohaib in a 40-run partnership was only 9. Bangladesh picked up the wickets of Zohaib and Alishan Sharafu in quick succession to push UAE on the back foot.

Waseem and Rahul Chopra stitched the innings and took the score to 103, adding 62 runs for the third wicket in just 42 balls. Waseem raced to his fifty in 32 balls.

The dismissal of Waseem pushed UAE on the back backfoot. They still needed 88 runs. Asif Khan hit three consecutive sixes off Mahedi Hasan to steal 25 runs from the over and ward off the pressure.

In the next over, Tanzim removed Chopra to give another jolt to the UAE. Chopra’s 22-ball 35 was studded with five fours and one six.