Saudi Arabia vs United Arab Emirates, ICC Mens T20 WC qual B, Today Match Prediction 20 November 2024

SDA vs UAE Match Prediction & Analysis

It’s time for the second round of matches to begin in the ICC T20 World Cup Asia Qualifier with the United Arab Emirates taking on Saudi Arabia.

UAE had it easy against Bhutan in the first match, winning by a huge 63 run margin after posting an above par total . However, things were not as easy for Saudi Arabia who went down fighting valiantly against Bahrain.

A 3-run loss would be a tough pill to swallow, but Saudi Arabia have to figure out how to bounce back from this minor setback and post a win to start progres.

In UAE, they are going to have to deal with a tougher opponent, but they can’t afford to take it easy. They couldn’t defeat UAE in the two meetings so far but they’ll be hoping to cause an upset this time and turn things around.

TEAMS PREVIEW

Saudi Arabia Preview

A magnificent 110 off 55 from the willow of opener Abdul Waheed Ghaffar wasn’t enough to surmount the huge target that Saudi Arabia were set to win in their first match of the tournament. A tight 3-run loss is often hard to take, but Saudi Arabia cannot afford to spend time wondering where things went wrong.

They have a tough competitor in UAE waiting to square off against them in less than a day’s time. And they’ll be hoping that their middle order with the bat and most of their bowlers with the ball will bounce back quickly and show more intent and application in the next match.

With the ball, Usman Najeeb made a mark, picking up a brace of wickets at an economy rate of 8.00 per over. Ishtiaq Ahmed, his new ball partner, also collected a couple but he was more expensive, returning figures of 2/42 off his 4 overs. They were poor with the ball and erred in line and length, giving away 5 wides and 3 no balls. They need to quickly lift their game and play their best brand of cricket to even come close to giving UAE a run for their money.

Saudi Arabia Predicted Playing XI:

Sajid Cheema, Abdul Waheed Ghaffar, Faisal Khan, Sidharth Sankar (wk), Abdul Manan Ali, Waji Ul Hassan (c), Usman Najeeb, Usman Khalid, Zain Ul Abidin, Ishtiaq Ahmad, Abdul Wahid.

United Arab Emirates Preview

UAE got off to a winning start in the tournament, courtesy a whirlwind 46 off 24 from swashbuckling opener Muhammad Waseem. Alisan Sharafu kept him company up top, helping UAE amass 60 runs in the powerplay. He continued to score runs in a measured way, bringing up a fifty.

Although the rest of the middle order didn’t do anything remarkable, Muhammad Zuhaib finished with a flourish whacking two boundaries and two sixes off the nine balls he faced to help UAE finish with 166/6, which in the end proved more than enough.

He chipped in with a couple of wickets later on against a tepid Bhutan side which never looked like they were up for the task. But it was the 19-year-old off spinner Dhruv Parashar who stole the show, picking up 4 wickets in his quota of overs to kill the chase. Bowling in tandem with Nilansh Keswani, another young spinner coming through the ranks, Parashar made good use of the conditions to dry up the scoring. The UAE side will be ready to go after a strong performance like that.

United Arab Emirates Predicted Playing XI:

Muhammad Waseem (c), Alishan Sharafu, Asif Khan, Dhruv Parashar, Rahul Chopra, Syed Haider Shah (wk), Zuhaib Zubair, Ali Naseer, Nilansh Keswani, Junaid Siddique, Muhammad Jawadullah.

Weather Conditions

Four totals over 200 and nearly twelve over 175 is enough to demonstrate how batting-friendly this pitch is.

And two of those 200+ totals came while chasing, which goes to show the pitch here is good for batting all the way through. With a match aggregate of around 287, this is one of those tracks where batsmen can go on the offensive straight out of the blocks. But teams have crumbled here looking for runs, too, getting skittled out for 56, 76 etc.

Saudi Arabia have been routed here for 110, their lowest total here. The forecast suggests no concerns whatsoever, with the weather expected to be warm and sunny throughout.

SDA vs UAE Pitch Report

This match will be played at the West End Park International Cricket Stadium, Doha. Saudi Arabia’s only meeting with United Arab Emirates at this ground last September was quite disappointing. Batting first, Saudi Arabia could only put 120 odd runs on the board, and UAE wrapped up the chase quickly, cantering to victory in the 15th over.

Toss: To Bowl

This is one of those venues in this part of the world where chasing teams have a clear dominance. Of the 49 matches to have produced a result here, 30 were won by teams chasing. And that puts into perspective what the toss winning captain is likely to do. Win toss, put the opposition in to bat, restrict them to a decent total and back your batsmen to wrap up the chase. This is the blueprint with which most teams go in to play here.