History unfolded in Dubai as UAE crashed to their lowest-ever total in ODIs. Chasing a challenging target of 293 against USA in the ICC Cricket World Cup League Two fixture, UAE were bowled out for just 49 and only faced 22.1 overs. It meant a crushing 243-run win for USA, their biggest ever win in ODIs by runs.
Rushil Ugarkar (5-22) and Saurabh Netravalkara (3-4) were the major destroyers for USA as their new-ball spells were too hot to handle for UAE's batters. As many as seven wickets fell inside the first Powerplay as UAE were reduced to 16/7 in the tenth over and it was only matter of reducing the margin of defeat from there on.
Unfortunately for the hosts, they couldn't muster a lot more and folded in another hour to record their biggest defeat in ODIs in terms of runs. Only one batter went to double figures and it was the no.10 batter Junaid Siddique who was also the only batter to hit a six in the UAE innings.
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Earlier on, USA also lost a few wickets early and were 28/3 in the seventh over. However, Saiteja Mukkamalla (137*) and Milind Kumar (123*) combined for a marathon unbroken stand of 264 to take USA to a huge total on a sluggish Dubai surface. They were skilled enough to weather the new ball storm and paced their innings really well.
Apart from finding the boundaries regularly, the duo also ran brilliantly between the wickets to ensure that the UAE bowlers and fielders were under regular pressure. In the last ten overs, both batters stepped on the gas and ensured that 94 runs were scored without a wicket being lost. It seemed like an above-par total at the halfway mark itself and USA's bowlers then made it a no-contest with a ruthless show.