D’Arcy Short scored an unbeaten half-century as Australia cruised to a seven-wicket victory against United Arab Emirates in their only Twenty20 international encounter in Abu Dhabi on Monday.
Short remained not out on 68 from 53 balls with eight boundaries helping Australia chase the modest target off 118-run target in 16.1 overs after the bowlers had restricted UAE to 117/6 in 20 overs.
Australia were off to a poor start, losing skipper Aaron Finch in the second over and with just six runs on board. Chris Lynn (20) then stayed for a brief period dealing mostly in boundaries but departed failing to clear Amir Hayat out of the park. It was Hayat’s second wicket following the dismissal of Finch.
Glenn Maxwell (18) then stitched a 43-run partnership to take the Kangaroo nation closer to victory but departed in trying to hit it big. Short then ensured no more wickets with his control and power. He had another 45-run stand with Ben McDermott, who made run-a-ball 10 to secure the victory with three and five balls still remaining.
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Earlier opting to bat first, UAE found themselves in a horrific situation after losing two wickets with no run on board. Ashfaq Ahmed and skipper Rohan Mustafa were dismissed for golden ducks. Chirag Suri (13) soon followed them into the pavilion as UAE found themselves at a precarious situation with three wickets lost for just 17 runs in six overs.
Shaiman Anwar (41) and Rameez Shahzad (22) came to the rescue sharing a vital 53-run partnership to take UAE to a respectable score. But both failed to make big scores. Anwar scored the highest for UAE with a vital 41 from 44 deliveries that had three fours and two sixes to the fence.
Still, it was left to Mohammad Naveed for a late blitz and it was his quickfire 27 from 13 deliveries that helped UAE cross the 100-run mark, a distant total when two wickets had fallen for zero runs on board.
Both Nathan Coulter-Nile and Billy Stanlake finished with identical figures of four overs two wickets each for 20 runs.
The one-off T20 will certainly serve the Aussies great ahead of their three T20 match series starting this Wednesday.
Scores: Australia 119-3 in 16.1 overs (D. Short 68 not out, C. Lynn 20; Amir Hayat 2-26) beat UAE 117-6 in 20 overs (Shaiman Anwar 41, Mohammad Naveed 27; N. Coulter-Nile 2-20, B. Stanlake 2-20)