The United Arab Emirates secured a narrow five-wicket victory over Canada in the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup at the Arun Jaitley Stadium, Delhi.
Canada, having elected to bat first, posted 150 for 7 in their allotted 20 overs. Harsh Thaker led the effort with 50 from 41 balls, striking two fours and three sixes. Navneet Dhaliwal contributed 34 off 28 deliveries, while Shreyas Movva made 21. Junaid Siddique returned figures of 5 for 35 in four overs, the best of the innings, and claimed the key wickets at regular intervals.
In reply, the UAE reached 151 for 5 in 19.4 overs. Opener Aryansh Sharma anchored the chase with an unbeaten 74 from 53 balls, including six fours and three sixes. Sohaib Khan struck 51 off 29 deliveries, hitting four boundaries and four sixes.
The closing stages produced brief tension. With the scores level, Sohaib Khan miscued a short ball and was caught at mid-on. On the next delivery, Muhammad Arfan pulled Jaskaran Singh over midwicket for four to seal the result.
Earlier in the final over, Aryansh Sharma had lifted the first ball for six over deep midwicket and acknowledged the stroke with a firm gesture of satisfaction.
The victory marked only the UAE’s second win in eight appearances at T20 World Cups.
Junaid Siddique received the player-of-the-match award for his five-wicket haul.
