UAE given ODI status until 2018

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UAE given ODI status until 2018​

UAE skipper Khurram Khan and Scotland counterpart Preston Mommsen get their hands on the ICC Cricket World Cup qualifier trophy before they clash in the final for the title today in Christchurch, New Zealand.​

Dubai: The UAE cricket team, still riding on the euphoria of clinching a place in the 2015 International Cricket Council (ICC) World Cup, have earned another honour with the sport’s governing body giving them one-day international status for the next four years.

The ICC confirmed the UAE will join fellow associate and affiliate nations Afghanistan, Hong Kong, Ireland, Papua New Guinea and Scotland in having the status until 2018.

The team believed they had gained ODI status with their win over Kenya on Tuesday, but they had to wait until Friday for the ICC’s confirmation.

“I am over the moon,” skipper Khurram Khan told Gulf News as the UAE prepared to take on Scotland in the final of the ICC Cricket World Cup qualifier at the Lincon Oval ground in Christchurch, New Zealand, on Saturday — their first ODI since gaining the approval. “All the hard work we have put in as a team is paying off and to gain ODI status is a huge achievement.

“I have been played for the UAE since 2001 and it is an amazing feeling. Every player in my team has chipped in. Our top order has scored runs and the bowlers delivered when it mattered.”

If the UAE beat Scotland they will join four-time champions Australia, fellow co-hosts New Zealand, three-time runners-up England, 1996 champions Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Afghanistan in Pool A at the 2015 World Cup. If they lose, they will be in Pool B with defending champions India, 1992 winners Pakistan, South Africa, two-time champions West Indies, Ireland and Zimbabwe.

Saturday’s final will be an opportunity for UAE to avenge their 53-run defeat by Scotland in a rain-affected group match at Queenstown last month.

Khurram’s side are chasing a second winner’s trophy in the World Cup qualifier, having first won the competition under the captaincy of Sultan Zarawani in 1994, although it was then called the ICC Trophy.

Mohammad Redha Abbas, chief selector and Emirates Cricket Board (ECB) executive member, said: “The players deserves all the credit. If not for the players the world would not have known that such a team existed. All credit to the boys.”

David East, the ECB chief executive, feels gaining ODI status is a momentous occasion for cricket in the UAE. “To qualify to play in three World Cups [50-over, Twenty20 and Under-19s] is simply brilliant. Our thanks to coach Aaqib Javed and his support staff, Mazhar Khan and all the administrators, who enabled the players to work hard and realise a dream.”

The UAE-Scotland final starts at 1.30am UAE time and will be streamed live on the official ICC website

UAE given one-day international status until 2018 | GulfNews.com.