UAE retires all batters in ICC Asia Qualifiers

Express Tribune

11-05-2025

UNUSUAL TACTICS: UAE women's team celebrates the dismissal of a Qatar batswoman in the opening match of the ICC Asia Qualifiers in Bangkok on Saturday. PHOTO: ICC
The United Arab Emirates (UAE) women's cricket team astonishingly retired all 10 of their batters during their 163-run victory over Qatar in the Women's T20 World Cup Asia Qualifier match here at the Terdthai Cricket Ground on Saturday.
Opting to bat first, UAE openers Esha Oza and Theertha Satish came out all guns blazing and put together a quickfire 192-run stand in just 16 overs.
Skipper Oza spearheaded the only partnership of the UAE's innings with a century.
She remained the top-scorer for the UAE with 113 off 55 deliveries, studded with 14 fours and five sixes. Her fellow opener, Satish, on the other hand, made 74 off 42 balls, laced with 11 boundaries.
With the scoreboard reading 192/0 in 16 overs, UAE made a surprising decision of dismissing themselves by retiring out all of their batters – the first such instance in a women's or men's T20Is.
As a result, UAE's 192 became the highest all out score in a women's T20I.
Qatar were thus set a target of 193 in 20 overs, but a combined bowling effort from UAE booked them for a meagre 29 in 11.1 overs.
Opening batter Rizpha Bano Emmanuel waged a lone battle for Qatar with a 29-ball 20 up the order, while the rest of their batters failed to amass double figures, out of which seven fell for a duck.
Nine teams competing in ICC Asia Qualifiers
The road to qualification for the ICC Women's T20 World Cup 2026 resumed on Friday with the start of the Asia Qualifiers in Bangkok, where nine nations are competing in the hope of extending their journey through to England and Wales.
Twenty-one matches will take place across 12 days, spanning two venues in the Thai capital, and the opening day sees the host nation take on Kuwait at Terdthai Cricket Ground (TCG), while Nepal play Hong Kong China and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) face off against Malaysia, both at the Asian Institute of Technology (AIT) ground.
The format for the event will see Thailand, Kuwait, and Bhutan compete in Group A, UAE, Malaysia and Qatar form Group B and Nepal, Hong Kong China and Bahrain in Group C.
Following an initial round robin phase which concludes on 16 May, the winners of each of the three groups advance to a Super Three stage, with another round of fixtures ultimately determining the top two teams that will progress to the ICC Women's T20 World Cup 2026 Qualifier – the final stage on the road to England and Wales 2026.
All matches in the ICC Women's T20 World Cup 2026 Asia Qualifier will be available to watch live on ICC.tv, while fans in the Asian subcontinent can follow the action on FanCode.
The ICC Women's T20 World Cup 2026 in England and Wales will see a greater number of teams (12) and matches (33) than ever before.
Venues and dates for the pinnacle T20 event were announced last week in a special launch event, where it was revealed that Edgbaston, Hampshire Bowl, Headingley, Old Trafford Cricket Ground, The Oval and Bristol County Ground will host matches from 12 June, with a highly anticipated final set for Lord's Cricket Ground on 5 July.
Eight teams have already gained automatic qualification to the event; holders New Zealand, Australia, England, India, South Africa and the West Indies by virtue of their performances at the 2024 edition, plus Pakistan and Sri Lanka, who were the two next highest ranked teams on the ICC Women's T20I rankings table on 21 October 2024.
The four remaining spots will be determined through a ten-team Qualifier, comprising Bangladesh, Scotland and teams that have advanced from regional pathway events including USA as Americas Qualifier champions, two teams from the Asia Qualifier and others that advance from subsequent competitions held in Africa, Europe and the East Asia-Pacific later this year.