(MENAFN- Khaleej Times) Captain Khurram Khan led from the front with a century as the UAE recorded a comprehensive 150-run victory over Papua New Guinea (PNG) on the first day of the Super Six stage of the ICC Cricket World Cup Qualifier New Zealand 2014 (CWCQ) at Hagley Oval, Christchurch, on Sunday
In other Super Six matches played on Sunday, Kenya's Lameck Onyango starred with a four-wicket haul to lead his side to victory over Hong Kong, while rain stopped play in the Scotland-Namibia fixture before a result could be achieved
At Hagley Oval, Christchurch, a captain's knock from Khan (138) sealed victory for the UAE and the top spot in the Super Six table ahead of PNG on net run-rate, with four points each
After being sent in to bat, the UAE lost both its openers within four overs before the skipper scored at almost a run a ball in his knock of 138 to help his side post a competitive total of 280. Khan found the boundary 17 times and struck two sixes in his 145-ball innings, and is now the leading run-scorer of the tournament (413). Vikrant Shetty (35) and Swapnil Patil (29) also contributed with the bat
Pace bowler Willie Gavera (three for 39) claimed the skipper's wicket in the 44th over before snaffling the last two wickets in the penultimate over to see the UAE all out for 280
PNG never recovered from a shaky start, reeling at five for 45 from 11.1 overs. Charles Amini top-scored for his side with 49, but a four-wicket haul for Amjad Javed (four for 26) saw PNG dismissed well short of its target, reaching 130 in 28.3 overs
UAE skipper and man-of-the -match Khan was thrilled that his team secured victory in such an important match. "That was a very important two points because PNG came into the Super Six stage with four points and most of the other teams came with two points. This stage of the competition you just have to beat every team, and we really respect PNG, they are an awesome team and have been doing very well but our guys did a wonderful job today.
Reflecting on his own performance, Khan said: "I played better today. The last few innings I got out on 88 and 87 and 78 but I wanted to bat for all the overs and tried my best today.
PNG coach Peter Anderson remained upbeat about the loss. "It's kind of what we expect sometimes, we've had a bit of a roller coaster ride, guys can play fantastic cricket but that is a challenge for us, we don't have anything in between. We're learning and we've got to remain positive. It starts again on Tuesday and we are certainly not ready to go home yet.
At Rangiora Oval, Christchurch, Kenya notched up its first points on the Super Six board with a six wicket win over Hong Kong
When rain finally forced the players from the field with just 4.4 overs left to be bowled, Kenya had reached 223 for four in pursuit of Hong Kong's 254 for eight, securing a ten run win under the Duckworth-Lewis Method (D-L Method)
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