UAE Beat Oman by 42 Runs in Dubai — Basil Hameed Signs Off League 2, Oman Hang On to Fourth

The last match of a three-year league ended with a team that had nothing to play for beating a team that had everything to lose. UAE, already certain to finish bottom, made 226 for 8 at the ICC Academy and then bowled Oman out of the chase, holding them to 184 for 9. It cost Oman most of their net run rate cushion, but not all of it. They finish fourth.

The man in the middle of it all was Basil Hameed. He came in at 153 for 5 in the 37th over and made 43 off 45, the innings that took UAE from a below-par total to a defendable one. Then he took a wicket with his off-spin and held two catches. Few players have closed out a campaign more completely.

Oman's decision to bowl looked right after seven overs. Muhammad Waseem had raced to 29 off 28 when Shakeel Ahmed had him caught, and three balls later Shakeel removed Muhammad Shahdad for a duck. UAE were 34 for 2. Adeeb Usmani and Rahul Chopra rebuilt with a stand of 66 off 79 balls, Usmani hitting three sixes in his 47 before he was stumped off Samay Shrivastava at 100 for 3.

The middle of the innings dragged. Chopra batted 79 balls for his 47, Akshdeep Nath and Awais Ali Shah made 28 between them off 65, and at 162 for 6 in the 41st over UAE were heading for something closer to 200. Basil Hameed and Aayan Afzal Khan changed that, adding 56 off 50 for the seventh wicket. Hameed hit three fours and two sixes before Shakeel got him in the 49th over, his third wicket. UAE added 64 after the sixth wicket fell in the 41st over.

With the ball UAE used six bowlers and all of them took at least one wicket. Muhammad Rohid and Khuzaima Tanveer had Oman at 28 for 3 inside 11 overs. Awais Ali Shah's 10 overs for 27 were the most economical full spell of the day, and Aayan Afzal Khan bowled two maidens in a spell of 9-2-31-2.

For the second match in a row Mujibur Ali was Oman's top scorer, and for the second match in a row he didn't have enough help. He came in at 52 for 4 and made 65 off 84, his fifty taking 77 balls, and added 64 with Narayan Saishiv for the sixth wicket. But that stand took 91 balls, and when it ended at 132 for 6 in the 39th over Oman needed 95 off 66. Hammad Mirza's 29 had taken 59 balls. On a slow surface against a disciplined attack, Oman never scored fast enough to threaten.

Their bowling was better. Shakeel's 3 for 42 and Karan Sonavale's seven overs for 18 kept UAE quiet for long periods. The damage came at the end, when UAE turned 162 for 6 into 226 for 8 in under ten overs.

The ICC Academy pitch was slow and rewarded bowlers who took pace off the ball. Neither side scored at much more than four and a half an over, and the bowlers who kept a tight line did most of the work: Awais Ali Shah, Basil Hameed and Aayan Afzal Khan bowled 29 overs for 107 runs and five wickets between them, and Karan Sonavale's seven overs for Oman cost 18. Batting got harder as the ball got older, which is why UAE's late burst mattered so much.

Hameed walked in with UAE at risk of setting a target Oman could chase without hurry. His 43 off 45 came at close to a run a ball on a pitch where few managed that, and his stand with Aayan Afzal Khan was the fastest of the three fifty partnerships in the match. With the ball he bowled his full ten overs and dismissed Hassnain Shah, and in the field he caught Karan Sonavale and Hammad Mirza. In a match decided by 42 runs, he was involved in almost every passage that mattered.

Our preview did not pick a winner. It said the UAE's home advantage was real but not decisive, that spin through the middle overs would matter, and that consistency across 50 overs was the UAE's challenge. The spin call held: the slower bowlers decided this game. UAE were more consistent than we suggested, though, and the preview's line about the result shaping the standings turned out truer for Oman than for the hosts.

That was the 144th and final match of the 2023-27 League 2 cycle. USA (49 points), Scotland (45) and Netherlands (44) take the top three places. Oman finish fourth on 33 points with a net run rate of -0.224, ahead of Namibia (33, -0.278) on run rate alone. A win would have made fourth comfortable, and a much heavier defeat would have handed it to Namibia. UAE finish eighth on 25 points, with a win to remember the cycle by.