Senior NAT Team - General Discussion

[Exquisiteblue]

Big thank you to everyone's support! Can't wait to get into it again after a Crud year all round for everyone real life.

See what we can get out of this bunch then.

[Penky]

Congrats EB Best of luck for the next couple of seasons, here's hoping to make that push for the WC despite the odds!

[Exquisiteblue]

Right here we go people. Tour time is next week and this is your squad.

We will be on Dry Hard and Flat pitches. So hopefully plenty of good batting performances and we can get through.

Batsmen

Name / One Day Nat Appearances

Ismael Saad - 27
Khayri Salah - 12
Jaul Ghayth - 9
Hana Hassan - Debut
Sharad Hossein - Debut
Rahul Jabbar - 4
Mujahid Zakiyy - 25

Keepers

Zavier Salman - 2
Aden Talib - 2

Bowlers

Kaliq Aziz - Debut
Alan Morrow - 22
Amir Alam - 9
Aban Haqq - 19
Kamal Qassem - 22
Kamal Wajih - Debut
Saad Nasser - 14
imtiyaz Alim - Debut
Wakil Turk - 11

5 Debutants will be coming along with us for this one. Alot of changes at any one time but such is the better players we have had are at that age where we just can't take them along anymore. There is 2/3 more in here wo might not see the season out also so it wouldn't surprise me if we see alot more debutants this season with the need to transition upon.

Heres hoping for a successful tour. Starts next week in the West indies time zone.

I'll leave you in the capable hands of Moose who I have no doubts will keep you entertained as the tour weeks goes on

[MrMoose]

Thanks EB! Capable hands might be a stretch but let’s go!

Hello hello! Welcome back it’s been a little while.

There’s a bit of energy and enthusiasm amongst this younger group. The lads all know this could be the swan song for a few of the veterans that have serviced UAE well for the last few seasons.

Alrighty for those who are long time UAE supporters, welcome back it’s always a privilege.

Those new to supporting UAE, please remain seated at all times, even when the seat belt sign is off. She’s going to be a bumpy ride but that makes the landing even sweeter!

And finally to those who come here just for my write ups. Yeah there’s no one here in that category so we will move right ahead.

It’s time for a Div 2 One Day Tour

All games this tour are 1500 FTP time.

22nd March vs Netherlands
@ The Graveyard
Pitch: Hard
Current Forecast: Sunny

Such is our luck that we get Netherlands in their first competitive match since winning the World Cup. Let’s hope they’re snoozing off the hangovers and we can snag a win!

23rd March vs Tour Hosts West Indies
@ West Indies CG
Pitch: Dry

24th March vs Sri Lanka
@ The CCCG
Pitch: Flat

25th March vs Ireland
@ Ocracoke Inlet
Pitch: Dry

26th March vs Australia
@ The Hack
Pitch: Hard

We’re the only nation in this Div that didn’t feature in the recent World Cup.

Netherlands won the cup. Australia were knocked out in the semi final by the Netherlands. Sri Lanka missed out on the semi finals on net run rate alone. West Indies and Ireland both had two wins in the group stages.

But alas none of that really matters. As they say anything can happen in cricket and with bat friendly pitches wins could come of the back of big runs from one or two players alone.

Tune in next week and let’s see the UAE lads have some wins!

[Exquisiteblue]

Gonna take one hell of a last 18 overs here to win this. The Netherlands dropping 3 catches is the only reason we are still in this at this point to be fair.

[heppa]

F. van Noortwijk (rfs) 10-0-63-2, K. Salah 38 (29b), R. Jabbar 3 (5b)
End of over 40 (4 runs) - UAE(241-4). 107 runs required from 10 overs. RR 6.03 RRR 10.70

RRR pressure will probably end us, but who knows just yet.

[Exquisiteblue]

F. van Noortwijk (rfs) 10-0-63-2, K. Salah 38 (29b), R. Jabbar 3 (5b)
End of over 40 (4 runs) - UAE(241-4). 107 runs required from 10 overs. RR 6.03 RRR 10.70

RRR pressure will probably end us, but who knows just yet.

Yeh think this one is over mate. Theres no way we are hitting these when they have a bowler like Vermeltfoort bowling at the death. Fast Old Ball Bowler. You saw what Naser did for us and hes only half the bowler this guy is.

[heppa]

Disappointing. Seems like our bowling is fairly weak this season.

[Exquisiteblue]

Disappointing. Seems like our bowling is fairly weak this season.

Yes mate. It will get worse before it gets better too unfortunately. Naser and Morrow are pretty much going to be dead in terms of NT standard by the time the next one day tour comes around. There are a couple of people to potentially come into them but we will probably have to sacrifice fielding to do so.

Still holding hope we can produce something out here though!

[MrMoose]

Well well well. What’s all this then?

Welcome back. It’s tour time again. Dust off the cobwebs and strap in - it’s going to be a bumpy ride.

Well it was never going to be easy to beat the World Cup winners in their first competitive hit since winning the holy grail.

Outrated by 10k and unfortunately it showed today. Naser the old lad tried his heart out in what could be his last hoorah. Unfortunately we leaked too many runs and our bats just couldn’t cope with the NRR. Classic scoreboard pressure unfortunately.

Tour Match # 1
VS
Result:
win by 53 runs

The Match in a tweet: 6 wickets to Naser! Sadly I think almost 350 is going to be hard to chase against a world class bowling line up.

Man of the Match:
Saad Naser

Our best:
Saad Naser - 6/62 off 8.3 overs. Naser did all the damage today knocking through most of the Dutch top and middle orders. Also knocked over the bats that had established their innings. Fantastic bowling from the veteran OBB.

Sharrad Hossein - a gutsy 86 from the debutant opener. This lad showed why he’s earned his national cap. Let’s hope this is the beginning of a great national career for the 29 year old.

Khayri Salah - a quick 70 against the grain as he watched complete carnage down the other end.

3 debutants in the side today shows the nature of the next few seasons. Time to find the next generation of UAE stars and hopefully win some upsets along the way.

Hossein the best of the debutants with his 86.
Alim got his first international wicket. His figures of 2/47 off 8 overs weren’t the worst.
Aziz had a debut to forget. 0-95 off 10 overs and a -49 fantasy points. Hope no one had him as captain in their fantasy teams. The lad will bounce back no doubt!

Around the grounds:
Australia beat the West Indies by 72 runs. Australia outrated by 20k. The West Indies left some stars out of the line up and it showed. Hopefully the rotation policy works out for them.

Sri Lanka smashed Ireland by 142 runs despite being outrated by 13k.

Tune in at 1500 tomorrow as we take on the West Indies.

Trust in the process

[Exquisiteblue]

209 to defend. What an innings from Hassan. It became apparent very early this was a one man game. So glad he rode it through. Anything over 200 in these conditions I'd take. If the weather was different I'd be wanting 10 or so more but our spinners definitely have something to attack now.

[Exquisiteblue]

3 drops and a missed stumping. Wow. Feel like that should be game done.

[heppa]

Looks like these missed chances are going to cost us

[Exquisiteblue]

Looks like these missed chances are going to cost us

Yep. Exceptional fielding on 2 of the dropped catches today. We know our keepers are weak so I expect missed chances from them but the other 2 drops have hurt us.

[heppa]

Better fielding ratings too. That’s unlucky. Just need to win at least two of the next three.