Pressure on UAE after Oman defeat in Cricket World Cup qualifier

Ali Naseer says the pressure of having their World Cup dream dashed prematurely could yet bring out the best in the UAE, after their sorry start in Zimbabwe.

Two days after suffering a 175-run loss to Sri Lanka, the national team were beaten by Oman in their second match at the Cricket World Cup qualifier in Bulawayo.

The side from across the border claimed a comfortable five-wicket win with 24 balls still to spare at the Bulawayo Athletic Club.

It means the UAE are on the brink of elimination from the tournament, with first-round matches left against Scotland and Ireland remaining.

Despite the despondency pervading the side, all-rounder Naseer pointed to recent evidence to suggest the UAE can yet right the ship.

The national team had one-day international status, as well as participation in the qualifier, on the line at the play-off in Namibia earlier this year.

With that at stake they produced some of their finest cricket for some time to book their tickets to Zimbabwe.

There’s a lovely house just over the fence at midwicket at Bulawayo Athletic Club. Be a job retrieving any sixes hit into the garden, given both the barbed wire and electric fences … pic.twitter.com/WcwxazveWL

“In Namibia, our team had their backs to the wall and was still successful,” Naseer, 19, said.

“Our team plays well once we are under pressure, so hopefully we can come out well against Ireland and Scotland.”

Defeat to Oman was again characterised by limp batting and lacklustre fielding.

Having been inserted on a dewy morning, the UAE recovered from 16-2 to reach 102 without any more damage, thanks to a solid alliance between Rameez Shahzad and Vriitya Aravind.

A collapse followed, and they were only able to reach 227-8 thanks to a canny