In the United Arab Emirates, cricket had a very limited presence in the 19th and most of the 20th century. In less than a decade after independence, the massive influx of South Asians increased crickets popularity. After the establishment of the Emirates Cricket Board in 1989, the United Arab Emirates officially became an affiliate member of the ICC. In the following year, the UAE became an associate member, with the likes of Kenya. In 1996, the UAE competed in the Cricket World Cup, with their debut along with Kenya and The Netherlands making them the 14th team to compete at the World Cup. They did not qualify for the World Cup until 2015, where they are currently playing in Pool B.
Cricket World Cup Record
| Year | Round | Games | Won | Tied | Lost | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 1975 |
Not eligible – not an ICC member | ||||||
| 1979
| |||||||
| 1983
| |||||||
  1987
| |||||||
  1992 |
Did not qualify | ||||||
 1996 |
Group Stage | 5 | 1 | 0 | 4 | ||
   1999 |
Did not qualify | ||||||
   2003
| |||||||
 2007
| |||||||
 2011
| |||||||
| 2015 |
Group Stage | 6 | 0 | 0 | 6 | ||
 2019 |
Did not qualify | ||||||
| 2023
| |||||||
| Total | Group Stage | 11 | 1 | 0 | 10 | ||
World Cup Record (By Team)
| Cricket World Cup matches (By team) | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total : 1 Win – 0 Ties – 10 Loses – 11 games played | ||||
| Against | Wins | Draws | Losses | Total |
| England |
0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
 Ireland |
0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| India |
0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Netherlands |
1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| New Zealand |
0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Pakistan |
0 | 0 | 2 | 2 |
| South Africa |
0 | 0 | 2 | 2 |
| West Indies |
0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Zimbabwe |
0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
1996 Cricket World Cup
The United Arab Emirates was placed in Group B along with South Africa, Pakistan, New Zealand, England and The Netherlands. They were first up against South Africa, which batted first and posted a score of 321/2. Gary Kirsten top scored with a blitzing 188 Not Out. The UAE were restricted to just 152/8 from 50 overs, with Arshad Laeeq top scoring with 43.
| 16 February Scorecard |
| South Africa 321/2 (50 overs) |
v |  United Arab Emirates152/8 (50 overs) |
| Gary Kirsten 188* (159) Johanne Samarasekera 1/39 (9 overs) |
Arshad Laeeq 43 (79) Brian McMillan 3/11 (8 overs) |
| South Africa won by 169 runs Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium, Rawalpindi Umpires: Steve Bucknor and V.K. Ramaswamy Player of the match: Gary Kirsten (SA) |
Two days later, the UAE played against England batting first. The top order collapsed and the UAE were bowled out for 136 from 48.3 overs. England, led by Graham Thorpe's 44 Not Out, cruised to victory in 35 overs with 8 wickets to spare.
| 18 February Scorecard |
| United Arab Emirates 136 (48.3 overs) |
v | England 140/2 (35 overs) |
| Mazhar Hussain 33 (59) Neil Smith 3/29 |
Graham Thorpe 44* (66) Arshad Laeeq 1/25 (7 overs) |
| England won by 8 wickets Arbab Niaz Stadium, Peshawar Umpires: B.C. Cooray and V.K. Ramaswamy Player of the match: Neil Smith (Eng) |
The UAE next played co-hosts Pakistan. Batting first, they slumped to 109/9 from 33 overs, with Mushtaq Ahmed taking 3/16. Pakistan replied strongly, winning by 9 wickets in just 18 overs.
| 24 February Scorecard |
| United Arab Emirates 109/9 (33 overs) |
v | Pakistan 112/1 (18 overs) |
| Shaukat Dukanwala 21* (19) Mushtaq Ahmed 3/16 (7 overs) |
Ijaz Ahmed 50* (57) Johanne Samarasekera 1/17 (3 overs) |
| Pakistan won by 9 wickets Jinnah Stadium, Gujranwala Umpires: B.C. Cooray and Srinivas Venkataraghavan Player of the match: Mushtaq Ahmed (Pak) |
Down and out, the UAE next played New Zealand, who batted first. New Zealand posted 276/8 from 47 overs, with Roger Twose posting a match high 92. The UAE again failed to cross 200, posting 167/9. New Zealand won by 109 runs.
| 27 February Scorecard |
| New Zealand 276/8 (47 overs) |
v | United Arab Emirates 167/9 (47 overs) |
| Roger Twose 92 (112) Azhar Saeed 3/45 (7 overs) |
Johanne Samarasekera 47 (59) Shane Thomson 3/20 |
| New Zealand won by 109 runs Iqbal Stadium, Faisalabad Umpires: B.C. Cooray and Srinivas Venkataraghavan Player of the match: Roger Twose (NZ) |
- Match reduced to 47 overs a side due to heavy fog at the start of the match.
For their last game, the United Arab Emirates faced fellow associate The Netherlands. After batting first, The Netherlands posted a modest score of 216/9 from their 50 overs, with Shaukat Dukanwala taking 5/29. The UAE replied with confidence, winning by 7 wickets with 5.4 overs to spare. Shaukat Dukanwala became the first UAE player to be named the Man of the Match at any Cricket World Cup game.
| 1 March Scorecard |
| Netherlands 216/9 (50 overs) |
v | United Arab Emirates 220/3 (44.2 overs) |
| Peter Cantrell 47 (106) Shaukat Dukanwala 5/29 (10 overs) |
Saleem Raza 84 (68) Roland Lefebvre 1/24 (8 overs) |
| United Arab Emirates won by 7 wickets Gaddafi Stadium, Lahore Umpires: Mahboob Shah and Steve Randell Player of the match: Shaukat Dukanwala (UAE) |
- This was the first ever official ODI between two ICC Associate teams.
2015 Cricket World Cup
United Arab Emirates vs Zimbabwe
| 19 February 11:00 (NZDT) Scorecard |
| United Arab Emirates 285/7 (50 overs) |
v | Zimbabwe 286/6 (48 overs) |
| Shaiman Anwar 67 (50) Tendai Chatara 3/42 (10 overs) |
Sean Williams 76* (65) Mohammad Tauqir 2/51 (9 overs) |
| Zimbabwe won by 4 wickets Saxton Oval, Nelson Umpires: Chris Gaffaney (NZ) and Johan Cloete (SA) Player of the match: Sean Williams (Zim) |
- Zimbabwe won the toss and elected to field.
- The United Arab Emirates posted their highest ever ODI innings total.
Ireland vs United Arab Emirates
| 25 February 13:30 (AEST) (D/N) Scorecard |
| United Arab Emirates 278/9 (50 overs) |
v |  Ireland279/8 (49.2 overs) |
| Shaiman Anwar 106 (83) Paul Stirling 2/27 (10 overs) |
Gary Wilson 80 (69) Amjad Javed 3/53 (9 overs) |
| Ireland won by 2 wickets Brisbane Cricket Ground, Brisbane Umpires: Michael Gough (Eng) and Nigel Llong (Eng) Player of the match: Gary Wilson (Ire) |
- Ireland won the toss and elected to field.
- Shaiman Anwar became the first UAE player to score a century in a World Cup game.
- The 107-run partnership between Shaiman Anwar and Amjad Javed was the highest seventh-wicket partnership in World Cup history.
India vs United Arab Emirates
| 28 February 14:30 (AWST) (D/N) Scorecard |
| United Arab Emirates 102 (31.3 overs) |
v | India 104/1 (18.5 overs) |
| Shaiman Anwar 35 (49) Ravichandran Ashwin 4/25 (10 overs) |
Rohit Sharma 57* (55) Mohammad Naveed 1/35 (5 overs) |
| India won by 9 wickets WACA Ground, Perth Umpires: Billy Bowden (NZ) and Michael Gough (Eng) Player of the match: Ravichandran Ashwin (Ind) |
- United Arab Emirates won the toss and elected to bat.
Pakistan vs United Arab Emirates
| 4 March 14:00 (NZDT) (D/N) Scorecard |
| Pakistan 339/6 (50 overs) |
v | United Arab Emirates 210/8 (50 overs) |
| Ahmed Shehzad 93 (105) Manjula Guruge 4/56 (8 overs) |
Shaiman Anwar 62 (88) Shahid Afridi 2/35 (10 overs) |
| Pakistan won by 129 runs McLean Park, Napier Umpires: Johan Cloete (SA) and Sundaram Ravi (Ind) Player of the match: Ahmed Shehzad (Pak) |
- United Arab Emirates won the toss and elected to field.
- Shahid Afridi became the fourth player for Pakistan to score 8,000 runs in ODI matches.
South Africa vs United Arab Emirates
| 12 March 14:00 (NZDT) (D/N) Scorecard |
| South Africa 341/6 (50 overs) |
v | United Arab Emirates 195 (47.3 overs) |
| AB de Villiers 99 (82) Mohammad Naveed 3/63 (10 overs) |
Swapnil Patil 57* (100) AB de Villiers 2/15 (3 overs) |
| South Africa won by 146 runs Wellington Regional Stadium, Wellington Umpires: Steve Davis (Aus) and Rod Tucker (Aus) Player of the match: AB de Villiers (SA) |
- United Arab Emirates won the toss and elected to field.
- AB de Villiers now holds the records for the most sixes in one World Cup tournament (20) and the most sixes in all World Cup matches (36).
- South Africa qualified for the quarter finals as a result of this match.
United Arab Emirates vs West Indies
| 15 March 11:00 (NZDT) Scorecard |
| United Arab Emirates 175 (47.4 overs) |
v | West Indies 176/4 (30.3 overs) |
| Nasir Aziz 60 (86) Jason Holder 4/27 (10 overs) |
Johnson Charles 55 (40) Amjad Javed 2/29 (8 overs) |
| West Indies won by 6 wickets McLean Park, Napier Umpires: Aleem Dar (Pak) and Ranmore Martinesz (SL) Player of the match: Jason Holder (WI) |
- West Indies won the toss and elected to field.
- Shaiman Anwar (UAE) became the highest run-scorer by a player from an associate nation in a World Cup.
References
- "U a e C R I C K e T . C O M". Archived from the original on February 13, 2015. Retrieved February 28, 2015.
- Cricket World Cup#Results
- Jurejko, Jonathan (19 February 2015). "Cricket World Cup 2015: Zimbabwe avoid UAE loss". BBC Sport (British Broadcasting Corporation). Retrieved 19 February 2015.
- ^ "Wilson, K O'Brien seal tense win". ESPNcricinfo. ESPN Sports Media. 25 February 2015. Retrieved 25 February 2015.
- "Afridi's 8000, and Misbah's quick fifties". ESPNcricinfo. ESPN Sports Media. 4 March 2015. Retrieved 4 March 2015.
- "Anwar's record and de Villiers' sixes". ESPNcricinfo. ESPN Sports Media. 12 March 2015. Retrieved 12 March 2015.
- "Cricket World Cup 2015: South Africa ease into quarter-finals". BBC Sport. BBC Sport. 12 March 2015. Retrieved 12 March 2015.
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