Chirag Suri century underpins record-breaking ODI win for UAE against Oman

A sparkling century by Chirag Suri set UAE up for victory over table-toppers Oman as the national team returned to World Cup qualifying action in record-breaking fashion.

Suri’s innings of 115 was the bedrock of a captivating run-chase in the World Cup League 2 in Muscat.

The national team made 308-6 as they beat their Gulf neighbours with four wickets and six deliveries in hand.

It was the UAE’s highest score in One-Day International cricket, and just the second time they had breached 300 in the format, after they made 300-6 against Scotland in 2018.

Suri’s innings was the third highest by a UAE batsman in ODI history, and his 180-run alliance with young wicketkeeper batsman Vriitya Aravind for the second wicket was the country’s second highest in the format.

What made the performance even more remarkable was the fact it was the UAE’s first ODI in over a year. They had only played four competitive matches of any sort in the time since then.

They had not played in WCL2 – which is part of the qualifying system for the 2023 50-over World Cup – since the start of 2020, and had played just seven matches in the competition, compared to 20 by league-leaders Oman.

But after the famine, a feast of cricket is set to follow. The game against Oman was the first of 19 international matches the UAE are set to play over the course of a month and a half. The three ODIs against Oman will be followed by a series of T20 matches, then two back-to-back WCL2 series in UAE.

The three-match series in Muscat is a set of rescheduled fixtures which have twice been postponed. First, the two sides had their final WCL2 match in Muscat in 2020 called off because of the death of Sultan Qaboos bin Said.

Oman batsman Jatinder Singh also scored a ton.