Anwar inspires UAE series victory as USA fall short of first T20I win
USA must now wait for another chance to claim their first T20I win, having impressed in the opening match of the series but being denied victory when the game was abandoned due to rain.
This one was slightly more straight-forward for the home side, posting an imposing 182/7 thanks to an explosive 30-ball 62 from Anwar. The tourists were unable to keep up with the required run-rate as they fell short on 158/6, an economical effort from the UAE bowlers preventing Steven Taylor (49) from recording his and his country's second T20I half-century in the format, having blasted 72 in the first match.
Opting to bat first, UAE lost Ashfaq Ahmed (7) early on to Jasdeep Singh (1/43), who was otherwise expensive, and Anwar was aggressive from the outset from number three, swiftly batting his side into the ascendancy, but losing his partner Rohan Mustafa for an efficient 38-ball 45 shortly before the 100-mark.
40-year old Anwar notched his 10th half-century in the format on the way to a magnificent 62, smashing six sixes along the way before falling to Timil Patel (2/45). His departure was timely for the visitors, who managed to decelerate proceedings with regular wickets in the latter overs, Rameez Shahzad (9), Mohammad Boota (17), Chundangapoyil Rizwan (12) and Mohammad Naveed (4) all failing to hold up an end for any significant period of time.
Ahmed Raza remained unbeaten on 13 not out as the home side reached 182/7, left-armer HR Walsh (2/21) and Saurabh Netravalkar (2/28) the pick of the USA bowlers.
The chase began poorly for the tourists, Zahoor Khan picking up the wicket of Jaskaran Malhotra (21) and Sultan Ahmed (3/33) dismissing Mrunal Patel (8), paving the way for the in-form Taylor to take control in the middle.
He accumulated nicely for his 40-ball 49 before becoming another one of Ahmed's victims, and despite a steady 31 from Xavier Marshall, the required run-rate continued to sky-rocket, as the USA lower order struggled to accelerate sufficiently in the latter overs.
A 24-run victory secured the series for the UAE, while the USA can take plenty of encouragement from their first array into the T20l arena.