'10 retired outs, 8 ducks': UAE crush Qatar by 163 runs after never-seen-before strategy to counter rain threat

UAE Women’s cricket team stunned Qatar with a rare ‘retired out’ tactic in ICC Women’s T20 World Cup Asia Regional Qualifiers, winning by a mammoth 163 runs. The game also registered a record 15 ducks, the most for a women’s T20I. read more

The United Arab Emirates (UAE) women’s cricket team pulled off a clever move and crushed Qatar by a massive 163 runs in the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup Asia Regional Qualifiers in Bangkok on Saturday. A total of 10 retired outs and 8 ducks registered after the UAE implemented a never-seen-before strategy in T20Is.

UAE captain Esha Oza led from the front with a powerful century, scoring 113 runs off just 55 balls, while her opening partner Theertha Satish hit 74 from 42 balls. Both batters scored 30 boundaries between them including five sixes. Together, they helped the UAE reach 192 runs without losing a single wicket in just 16 overs.

STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD

UAE’s unprecedented retired out tactic

But with rain expected soon, the team did something unusual, they ended their innings early in a smart way. Since T20 rules don’t allow a ‘declaration’ like in Test matches, all UAE batters came out one by one and ‘retired out’ without even facing a ball, including the two openers. This made the innings officially end at 192 for 10.

Batter Dismissal R B 4s 6s SR Esha Oza (c) Retired out 113 55 14 5 205.45 Theertha Satish (wk) Retired out 74 42 11 0 176.19 Indhuja Nandakumar Retired out 0 0 0 0 - Heena Hotchandani Retired out 0 0 0 0 - Vaishnave Mahesh Retired out 0 0 0 0 - Michelle Botha Retired out 0 0 0 0 - Udeni Dona Retired out 0 0 0 0 - Athige Silva Retired out 0 0 0 0 - Katie Thompson Retired out 0 0 0 0 - Lavanya Keny Retired out 0 0 0 0 - Keziah Miriam Sabin Not out 0 0 0 0 - Extras 5 (nb 1, w 4) Total (16 Overs) RR: 12.00 192

This rare tactic helped the UAE leave enough time to bowl and make sure they got a result before any rain could interfere. And their plan worked perfectly.

UAE crush Qatar to go on top of table

In the second innings, Qatar never looked comfortable. They were bowled out for just 29 runs in 11.1 overs. Seven Qatar batters got out without scoring a single run and two scored less than 5 runs. Only Rizpha Emmanuel showed some fight with her 20-run knock, which she made off 29 deliveries.

Michelle Botha was the star with the ball, taking 3 wickets for just 11 runs in her four overs. All six UAE bowlers took at least one wicket each with Katie Thompson taking two for six in her three overs.

The win helped the UAE go on top of the Group B points table with two wins from two matches and a strong Net Run Rate of +6.998. Their next game is against Malaysia on 13 May and after that they will play Qatar again on 15 May.

The top team from each group will qualify for the Super 3 stage and the top two teams will eventually qualify for the Global Qualifier.

STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD

Click here to read article