United Arab Emirates vs Ireland, 1st T20I, Ireland tour of United Arab Emirates 2026 - Commentary
Ireland won by 57 runs
IRE
178/6(20)
UAE
121(19.5)
PLAYER OF THE MATCH
So that's it from game one. These two sides will lock horns again on Saturday before they head to the World Cup. See you all soon again!
Gareth Delany is the PoTM: I think I wanted to keep the stumps in play. I think we had plenty of runs to play with. It was an above-par target, so I was just trying to eliminate boundary options. To be honest I think he (Dockrell) should be the one collecting the award and not me (smiles). The spin department is gelling well. Hopefully (conditions in Sri Lanka will suit his style of bowling). Iit is an exciting prostect to play one of the host countires in the firstt couple of days of the tournament (World Cup). So we are looking forward to it.
Paul Stirling: Fantastic place (the UAE). Great facilities and so thankful to be able to play here. (Message to the team) Always be positive for sure. We stacked the batting line up, all the way down to 10/11. That (end) phase changed from par score to 180. We were really happy with 180. They (spinners) bowled really well. Dockrell sort of came back from not bowling much in the last year or two to bowling four overs for not many runs. It's hard to pull out one person in the team. Really happy with the effort.
Muhammad Waseem | UAE captain: To be honest I think we gave 20 runs extra. Pitch was good to be honest. It's a chasable score on this wicket but we did not bat well after that. (On batting well against Ireland) I always try to lead the team from the front and that is key for me hopefully will do well for the team next time.
22:03 Local Time, 18:03 GMT, 23:33 IST: First win for Ireland over UAE in this format since 2021. This was majorly possible because of good middle-order resistance and a grand finish towards the end where they stole 28 runs off the last 12 balls. UAE were actually off to a good start - 47/0 in the powerplay but once the spinners came on in the middle-overs phase, UAE lost the flow with as many as 7 wickets falling for just 44 runs. It was a mere formality in the end as the Ireland bowlers closed the game to record an easy 57-run win. It was a collective effort from Ross Adair, Tucker, Campher and Calitz with the bat first up and then the spinners came on to choke the hosts by sharing 7 wickets between them.
19.5
W
McCarthy to Muhammad Arfan, out Bowled!! And he's knocked him over. Full delivery slightly leg-side. Arfan looks to slog hard, misses, ball brushes the pad and disturbs the stumps to ensure Ireland end their 5-match losing streak against UAE in this format. Muhammad Arfan b McCarthy 15(14) [4s-1]
McCarthy to Muhammad Arfan, THATS OUT!! Bowled!!
19.4
McCarthy to Muhammad Arfan, 2 runs, full delivery Arfan swings and gets a thick edge that escapes in the gap for two more
19.4
McCarthy to Jawadullah, no ball, 1 run, top edge and taken at short fine leg but it's the second short ball so called a no ball. Short delivery on the stumps, Jawadullah looks to pull and edges it to the fielder
19.4
McCarthy to Jawadullah, wide, short delivery too far away, Muhammad Arfan was keen for a run but Jawadullah had no chance. The keeper hurled it back to the bowler who ran back to the stumps to flick the bails off but Arfan just got home in time
Third ump called for a runout check but the batter is safe at the bowler's end
19.3
McCarthy to Jawadullah, no run, short delivery on the stumps, the batter swings and misses
19.2
McCarthy to Muhammad Arfan, 1 run, low full toss, pushed towards mid-off
19.1
4
McCarthy to Muhammad Arfan, FOUR, low full toss, Arfan flicks and sends it past backward square leg to find the fence. Short fine leg was inside
19
1 1 1 1 1 2 (7 runs)
UAE 111-9
Muhammad Jawadullah
4(3)
Muhammad Arfan
8(10)
Mark Adair
4-0-28-1
18.6
Mark Adair to Jawadullah, 2 runs, this is so high but mid-off is up so it lands safely at long-off before the fielder to chase it from the circle
18.5
Mark Adair to Muhammad Arfan, 1 run, low full toss, the batter taps it to cover
18.4
Mark Adair to Jawadullah, 1 run, full delivery on the leg stump, Jawadullah drives to mid-off
18.3
Mark Adair to Muhammad Arfan, 1 run, advances and mistimes the pull to deep mid-wicket
18.2
Mark Adair to Jawadullah, 1 run, slower delivery on the stumps, dabs to deep point
18.1
Mark Adair to Muhammad Arfan, 1 run, good length delivery on the leg stump, Muhammad slogs to mid-wicket
