Qatar vs United Arab Emirates, Gulf Cricket T20I Championship 2023, Today Match Prediction 20 September 2023

qa vs uae Match Prediction & Analysis

The hosts will now take on the unbeaten UAE as they look to climb to the second spot in the points table. Qatar bounced back with the bat in their last match with their top-order scoring at a better strike rate than their previous outings.

The bowlers were also impressive as they cleaned up half of the opposition’s batting lineup in the first 11 Overs. Though it was a very narrow win, Qatar will take positives from that game.

UAE are on a different level. They’ve successfully defended a total twice so far. Skipper Muhammad Waseem has scored 3 fifties in 3 matches while Junaid Siddique and Ali Naseer are consistently delivering with the ball.

Iman Liyanage who struggled to get going at the top for Qatar was the top-scorer at number 3 scoring 49 off 36 balls in the last match. It needs to be seen whether Qatar can continue their momentum and carry this form against the UAE.

TEAMS PREVIEW

Qatar Preview

Qatar sprung up a surprise against Kuwait in the last game as they posted 156-3 batting first and followed it up with an even better bowling performance.

The batters had struggled to score at a strike rate of 100 in the first two outings and the opposition had some experienced and in-form bowlers. As such, a 150-run mark looked like a far cry for Qatar. Yet, a small change in the batting order, sending Imal Liyanage to number 3 and Adnan Mirza to open the innings, made all the difference. 

Saqlain Arshad and Adnan Mirza added 52 runs for the opening stand while Liyanage and Muhammad Tanveer built a 77-run stand for the 3rd wicket. Now Qatar can look up to their top 4 batters as they gear themselves to face the mighty UAE. The opposition has some in-form bowlers who’ve been terrific in their last few outings.

Qatar has a tough challenge at their hands. However, Qatar aren’t lagging behind as far as bowling is concerned. They too boast a strong bowling arsenal with the likes of Muhammad Jabir, Adnan Mirza, and skipper Muhammad Murad. 

The good thing about Qatar’s bowling is that they aren’t dependent on a select few bowlers and even when one of their key players goes for runs, someone else steps up and delivers what the team needs.

Qatar Predicted Playing XI:

Muhammad Tanveer, Bipin Kumar, Bukhar Illikkal, Himanshu Rathod, Imal Liyanage (wk), Jassim Khan, Adnan Mirza, Mirza Mohammed Baig, Muhammad Murad (c), Muhammad Jabir, Saqlain Arshad

United Arab Emirates Preview

While most teams have preferred to bowl first on winning the toss at this venue, UAE have been confident enough to opt to bat first.  In their last outing, skipper Muhammad Waseem opted to bat first and continued his brilliant form with a third consecutive fifty.

The skipper and his opening partner Aryansh Sharma together stitched a 71-run opening partnership. And while the number 3 Asif Khan didn’t get going this time, Vritiya Aravind and Ansh Tandon stepped up and delivered crucial partnerships at 4 and 5.

The openers have delivered 50+ partnerships in every single match so far. In addition to the skipper, Junaid Siddique is another star of UAE in this tournament. He returned figures of 1 for 16 and 3 for 9 in the last two matches and is a key bowler for UAE to watch out for. 

Though Zahoor Khan hasn’t been particularly impressive, there are others like Ali Naseer and Muhammad Jawadullah who’ve found success consistently. Though a few bowlers may go for runs, the team is focused on breaking partnerships and picking up wickets. This approach to bowling makes the UAE quite threatening.

UAE have a deep batting lineup with batting all-rounders like Ali Naseer and Basil Hameed at 6 and 7 followed by bowling all-rounder Ayaan Khan at number 8.

United Arab Emirates Predicted Playing XI:

Ansh Tandon, Aryansh Sharma (wk), Muhammad Waseem (c), Vriitya Aravind, Basil Hameed, Asif Khan, Ali Naseer, Aayan Afzal Khan, Junaid Siddique, Muhammad Jawadullah, Zahoor Khan

PITCH AND WEATHER CONDITIONS

Weather Conditions

The pitch has been very competitive with help on offer for both batters and bowlers. It will be a great contest between the bat and the ball and the skills and abilities of the batters will be tested against a quality bowling attack on this surface. The weather will be clear with a high of 36 degrees Celsius in Doha.

Venue Details

The West End Park International Cricket Stadium in Doha will be the venue for this match. It has hosted 10 T20Is of this tournament so far and the pitch here continues to assist batters. We expect 165-170 runs in the 1st innings. This should be a competitive total in this match considering the bowling strengths of both teams.

Toss: To Bat

While UAE might still want to bat first and carry their batting momentum ahead, Qatar should also consider batting first after their recent success. Both teams have what it takes to post a competitive score and more importantly they posses an in-form and reliable bowling attack to defend a total.