Salim inspires Emirates

Netherlands 216-9 United Arab Emirates 220-3 (UAE win by 7 wickets)

A dazzling 84 from the opener Salim Raza and a five-wicket return from Shaukat Dukanwala was enough to give the United Arab Emirates their first World Cup victory in Lahore yesterday when they beat the Netherlands by seven wickets.

Salim's 68-ball innings thrilled the crowd of 4,500 in the Gaddafi Stadium as the UAE pulled off an unexpected win in what was billed as the battle of the minnows.

After the more experienced Dutch had scored a modest 216 for 9 off their 50 overs in the Group B match, the UAE raced to 220 for 3 with 28 balls to spare.

Salim, a 30-year-old right-hander, plundered seven fours and six sixes during his 77-minute knock.

He seemed set for the fastest century of the competition until he was caught by Bas Zuiderent at long-on off the Dutch skipper, Steven Lubbers.

Salim now holds the distinction of hitting the most sixes in the competition, overtaking Sri Lanka's Asanka Gurusinha who struck five against Zimbabwe at Colombo on 21 February.

The victory enabled the UAE to end their group campaign on a high after suffering dismal defeats in their first four outings.

Lahore scoreboard

(United Arab Emirates won toss)

NETHERLANDS

N Clarke c Mehra b Shahzad Altaf 0

P E Cantrell c Abbasi b Azhar Saeed 47

F Aponso c and b Dukanwala 45

T de Leede c and b Azhar Saeed 36

K J van Noortwijk c Zarawani

b Dukanwala 26

*S Lubbers c Saeed-al-Saffar

b Zarawani 8

R P Lefebvre c sub b Dukanwala 12

B Zuiderent st Abbasi b Dukanwala 3

M Schewe b Dukanwala 6

R van Oosterom not out 2

P J Bakker not out 0

Extras (b5, lb15, w11) 30

Total (for 9, 50 overs) 216

Fall: 1-3, 2-77, 3-148, 4-153, 5-168, 6-200, 7-200, 8-209, 9-210.

Bowling: Shahzad Altaf 10-3-15-1; Samarasekera 9-1-35-0; Saeed-al-Saffar 3-0-25-0; Dukanwala 10-0-29-5; Sultan Zarawani 8-0-40-1; Saleem Raza 5- 0-23-0; Azhar Saeed 5-0-29-2.

UNITED ARAB EMIRATES

Azhar Saeed run out 32

Salim Raza c Zuiderent b Lubbers 84

Mazhar Hussain c Clarke b Lefebvre 16

V Mehra not out 29

Mohammad Ishaq not out 51

Extras (lb7, w1) 8

Total (for 3, 44.2 overs) 220

Fall: 1-117, 2-135, 3-138.

Did not bat: J A Samarasekera, S Dukanwala, *Sultan Zarawani, Saeed-al- Saffar, Imtiaz Abbasi, Shahzad Altaf.

Bowling: Lefebvre 8-0-24-1; Bakker 8-0-41-0; De Leede 4-0-33-0; Aponso 7.2-0-47-0; Lubbers 9-0-38-1; Cantrell 8-0-30-0.