ICC Intercontinental Cup and Shield

MALAYSIA v UNITED ARAB EMIRATES The match was originally scheduled for mid-August but had to be postponed after the United Arab Emirates failed to obtain flight tickets. Suresh Navaratnam, Malaysia’s captain, surprisingly asked the Emirates to bat, a decision which looked justified when he took the first two wickets with his seam bowling while only 28 runs were scored. All of Malaysia’s main bowlers kept the game tight and, although Arshad Ali and Kashif Khan put on 66 for the third wicket, the Emirates were 126 for four at lunch. Khurram Khan and Syed Maqsood made the best stand of the innings in the afternoon session and threatened to dominate the proceedings. Khurram Khan was especially impressive with a strike rate of 94.2 and 78% of his 66 runs coming in boundaries. Shukri Abdul Rahim deceived him with his slow left-arm spin and took two further wickets to bring the initiative back to Malaysia. The Emirates’ new captain, Mohammad Tauqir, decided to declare when the ninth wicket fell rather than attempt to bat out the 90 overs allowed for the first innings. Rohan Selvaratnam and Rakesh Madhavan played splendidly in reply. When the century partnership was reached, Malaysia were in a strong position but Mohammad Tauqir snared both openers and Eszrafiq Aziz to leave the home side on 125 for 3 at the close, only 106 runs behind. The Emirates came back well on the second morning when the seam of Ali Asad and the left-arm spin of Khurram Khan caused an inexplicable collapse of Malaysia’s middle and lower order. Three wickets fell in the first three overs and the last seven wickets went for 48 runs. Shankar Retinam put up some resistance, lasting 69 balls and sharing a seventh-wicket stand of 27 with Rohan Suppiah but, altogether, it was a dismal performance. Mohammad Taskeen obtained four catches behind the stumps on his first-class debut. The Emirates lost Ramveer Rai with only two runs scored but Sameer Zia, surprisingly promoted up the order, and Arshad Khan were untroubled and kept the score moving. After Sameer Zia was out, Kaif Ghaury upped the scoring rate, 32 of his 36 runs coming in boundaries, and his strike rate of 87.8 placed the Emirates firmly on top. Although Kaif Ghaury fell before the close, the visitors ended the day 220 runs ahead. The Emirates added only 49 runs before declaring on the third morning, losing Arshad Ali, Kashif Khan and Khurram Khan to good catches as Malaysia fielded keenly. Set 270 runs for victory, Malaysia again began well with an opening partnership of 42. Once Selvaratnam was out, however, Mohammad Tauqir brought about another collapse with a spell of five wickets for 12 runs. Only Madhavan played him well, his 60 runs comprising 41% of his team’s total. With 12 fours and a strike rate of 46.8, he combined sound defence with an ability to choose the correct balls from which to score, but none of his colleagues could emulate his application. As in their match against Nepal, Malaysia were unable to maintain a sufficiently high standard over three days. In contrast, the Emirates did all that was required to ensure that they, rather than Nepal, qualified for the semi-finals. Mohammad Tauqir, with a match return of ten for 51 was named the Man of the Match. 36 ICC Intercontinental Cup 2004