Scots chase second victory against struggling UAE

SCOTLAND will be looking at making it two out of two in the ongoing 2023 Men’s Cricket World Cup Qualifiers when they clash with struggling United Arab Emirates (UAE) at Bulawayo Athletic Club (BAC) today.

The Saltires opened their Qualifiers account with a last ball one-wicket win over Ireland on Wednesday and their confidence is high going into today’s encounter against UAE who are yet to taste victory in their first two games.

This will be Scotland’s second match while UAE will be playing their third.

Speaking during the post-match presser, Scotland batter, George Munsey said there are positives taken from their opening game going into today’s encounter.

He said after Michael Leask’s brilliant innings which helped them against Ireland, the team will be looking up to him today for inspiration.

“We just want to get over the line no matter how we do it. There are lots of positives to take from the game against Ireland.

Bouncing off the way Michael Leask played in the first game is something that we are going to look to as an advantage going into the UAE game but at the same time, different ground, the conditions will be different so we are going to have to wake up in the morning and put up our best plan possible,” said Munsey.

Despite facing a team that has lost their first two matches, Munsey believes it is not going to be an easy game for them but have played against UAE a lot and know what to expect.

“This tournament is tough; every game is going to be a real challenge. UAE has some very good players, we have played a lot of cricket against them, we know what to expect from them but at the same time, I really back the squad, if we turn up on the day and have our number one game plan, I’m sure we can beat anyone,” he said.

After getting off their tournament on a high note with a win, the reverse-sweeping demon of the Associate world of cricket, as Munsey is known, said the pressure to perform well is still there on the team but are, however, used to it as every game they play in Associate cricket is of paramount importance.

“There is massive pressure in this tournament, there are some big teams here and it’s more like knockout cricket, you have to win and take as many points as possible to the Super Six.

Every game is a must win, there is huge pressure on the line for all the teams but it’s something that we are used to in the Associate world.

“Every game that we play is super important whether it’s financially or for points in the World Cricket League Two for example, so it’s something we are very used to but at the same time it’s going to come back to doing our process as well,” said Munsey.

As the two nations face off at BAC, another Group B encounter will be taking place at Queens Sports Club between in-form Oman and Sri Lanka. Both nations are yet to taste defeat.
All matches start at 09.00hrs. – @brandon_malvin