Aayan Khan absence felt as UAE lose ground to Namibia in World Cup qualifying race

CP Rizwan played down the absence of Aayan Khan after the UAE’s defeat to Namibia meant they lost two vital points in their pursuit of World Cup 2023 qualification.

Michael van Lingen struck 71 not out to guide the tourists to a seven-wicket win in Cricket World Cup League 2 at Dubai International Stadium.

It meant Namibia reasserted a 10-point lead over UAE in the race for the third automatic qualification berth for the global Qualifier in Zimbabwe in June.

UAE have eight matches left, over the course of back-to-back tri-series against Nepal and Papua New Guinea, first in Dubai then Kathmandu.

They will need to win six of those if they are to beat the Namibians to third place in the table. Nepal could also take third, but require seven wins to do so.

The UAE starting XI for Saturday’s game against Namibia did not include Aayan.

The 17-year-old all-rounder had been the player of the match in a thrilling one-wicket win for the host nation in the first match between the two sides on Thursday.

However, he was absent two days later. Instead, he was in Ajman, captaining the UAE’s Under 19 side in their own World Cup qualifying competition.

He thrived there. Aayan took 5-17 as UAE thrashed Hong Kong U19 by 163 runs. Down the road in Dubai, though, the senior colleagues he had left behind looked bereft without him.

“It is a hard call, especially missing a guy who won us the game almost single-handedly last time out,” said Rizwan, the UAE captain who top scored with 60 not out in their total of 166-9.

“Not having his services was tough, but it is one of those things we cannot control. We needed to take care of things that are in our control.

“We could have battled better, obviously. Credit to them, they kept us under pressure,