Al Amerat (Oman), Feb 24 (IANS): Opener Muhammad Waseem's swashbuckling knock of 112 off 66 balls powered UAE to a convincing seven-wicket win over Ireland in the final of ICC Men's T20 World Cup Qualifier A, here on Thursday.

With this victory, UAE confirmed their spot in Group 1 of the first round of Men's T20 World Cup in Australia. They join Sri Lanka and Namibia and will be joined by runner-up in Qualifier B that will be played in Zimbabwe in June. On the other hand, Ireland joined the West Indies and Scotland in Group 2 of the first round of the global event. They will be joined by the Qualifier B winner.

Opting to bat in a pressure final, Ireland found themselves in a spot of bother in the powerplay, losing three wickets, including that of their star batter Paul Stirling and captain Andy Balbirnie.

Despite the poor start, Ireland chose to fight fire with fire. Instead of adopting a cautious approach, they took the attack to UAE, with Harry Tector and Locan Turner adding 43 runs in just 32 balls for the fourth wicket. Just when the batters settled in, Karthik Meiyappan dismissed Turner, triggering a mini-collapse that saw Ireland lose two more wickets in as many overs.

At 69/6 at the end of 11 overs, Tector and Shane Getkate breathed new life into the Ireland innings with a 55-run partnership in 36 balls, with the latter smashing three sixes in his quickfire 19-ball 30. Zahoor Khan brought UAE back in the game with the wickets of the two set batters in the 17th over, at the end of which Ireland were 126/8.

Ireland were at the risk of being all-out without batting the full 20 overs, when Mark Adair and Barry McCarthy came up with vital knocks, adding 34 runs at a strike rate of 200. Ireland were eventually bowled for 159 off the last ball of the innings, with Rohan Mustafa claiming the last two wickets, an ICC report said.

Chasing 160 for the win, UAE were forced to go into a shell after Josh Little dismissed Chirag Suri and the tournament's leading run-getter Vriitya Aravind in the same over. Waseem and Rohan Mustafa had to bide their time, going at just over five runs an over for the first nine overs before taking the charge around the halfway mark.

Waseem made his intent clear with two sixes in consecutive overs. He brought up his fifty in the 12th over, taking the attack to Gareth Delany with two fours and a six in an over that cost Ireland 17 runs. He did not take his foot off the accelerator as he smashed three more sixes in the next two overs to bring down the required run rate to under eight.

The onslaught continued and Waseem brought up his century in 59 balls. By the time he got out, UAE only needed seven runs to win off the last two overs. Rohan Mustafa, who kept Waseem company in their 141-run partnership and was solid at the other end, hit the winning runs and UAE were crowned the champions of the 2022 ICC Men's T20 World Cup Qualifier A.

Meanwhile in the 3rd place playoff, Oman won the toss and elected to bat against Nepal at home, a decision that did not work out as well as they would have hoped. Oman lost their top three batters inside the Powerplay, starting with Jatinder Singh's run-out in the second over of the innings.

Zeeshan's Maqsood steadied the ship with a cautious 21 but with his wicket in the 12th over, Oman had lost half their side for just 42 - they were never able to recover. Ayaan Khan, Naseem Khushi and Kaleemullah were the only other batters to get to double-digit scores as Oman finished at a meagre 87/9.

Sandeep Lamichhane led from the front with figures of 3/13 and was well supported by the rest of the bowlers.

In response, Nepal openers Kushal Bhurtel and Aasif Sheikh put on a 50-run stand for the first wicket, effectively ending any hope Oman had. They were quiet in the first three overs of the Powerplay before Bhurtel exploded in the final three overs with two sixes and two fours.

Bhurtel, who finished the tournament as the second-highest run-scorer, added another 50+ score to his kitty. He remained unbeaten till the end as Nepal completed the formalities and chased down the total with nine wickets and 22 balls to spare.

Brief scores:

Ireland 159-10 in 20 Overs (Harry Tector 50; Zahoor Khan 3/29, Mustafa 3/30) lost to UAE 160-3 IN 18.4 Overs (Muhammad Waseem 112, Rohan Mustafa 37; Joshua Little 2/17) by 7 wickets

Oman 87-9 in 20 Overs (Zeeshan Maqsood 21; Sandeep Lamichhane 3/13) lost to Nepal 90-1 in 16.2 overs (Kushal Bhurtel 55 not out, Aarif Sheikh 21 not out; Zeeshan Maqsood 1/21) by 9 wickets