In a Women's T20 World Cup Qualifier match on Saturday (May 10), all ten of UAE's batters retired out against Qatar.
In the sixth match of the Asia Region Qualifier for the tournament being held in Bangkok, UAE elected to bat first.
Match 6, United Arab Emirates Women vs Qatar Women
vs
- Ball by ball Over
Theertha Satish and skipper Esha Oza made a steady start, scoring 45-0 in the first six overs. The pair began to accelerate from then on, making it to 90-0 by the halfway stage of the innings. Oza reached her half-century in the 11th over, and Satish in the 12th.
The UAE captain only took 15 more balls to get to a century, off 51 deliveries. She was unbeaten on 113, and Satish on 74, with the team score on 192-0 in 16 overs.
It was then that a truly extraordinary set of events unfolded.
UAE retire out all ten batters against Qatar
The batting pair both retired out, but it didn't end there. All of UAE's remaining batters padded up, walked out to the middle in pairs and then retired out immediately. The scorecard bore a truly unique look – all 10 batters retired out, all on delivery 16.1, eight of them departing without facing a ball.
It later emerged that the reason UAE took this course of action was they thought 192 runs were enough, and with rain around there was the possibility that the two teams would have to share points, if five overs in the second innings were not completed.
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Declaring the innings is not allowed in limited-overs cricket. This rule came in following Somerset's declaration after one over in a Benson & Hedges Cup 50-over match in 1979, which protected their strike rate advantage and helped them qualify for the quarter-finals – a move seen as being contrary to the spirit of the game.
Oza later said that she did not understand what was going on at first, but later agreed that the plan, perceived to be the idea of coach Ahmed Raza, made sense, since the batters in the middle could hear thunder.
Yesterday's match between Hong Kong and Nepal was washed out, while UAE themselves managed to beat Malaysia in a rain-reduced seven-overs-a-side game. Earlier today, Bahrain and Nepal had to play a five-over match.
As it happened, the rain held off at least long enough for UAE to bowl 11.1 overs, knocking Qatar over for just 29 and securing a massive, net run rate-boosting win. In order to qualify for the Global Qualifier, they need to finish top of their group here, and subsequently make the top two of the Asia Qualifier overall – meaning every point is absolutely crucial.
Image credit: ICC
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