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NEW DELHI: Junaid Siddique’s five-wicket haul was backed up by a composed half-century from Aryansh Sharma as the United Arab Emirates beat Canada by five wickets in their ICC Men’s T20 World Cup match on Friday.

Senior pacer Siddique spearheaded a disciplined bowling display, finishing with figures of 5/35 to restrict Canada to a below-par 150 for 7.

Aryansh, Sohaib steady the chase

Aryansh then anchored the chase with an unbeaten 74 off 53 balls, hitting six fours and three sixes, while Sohaib Khan chipped in with a brisk 51 off just 29 deliveries to steer UAE home with two balls remaining.

In pursuit of the modest target, UAE found it hard to gain momentum and kept losing wickets at regular intervals, even as Aryansh stayed firm at one end.

Left-arm spinner Saad Bin Zafar (3/14) applied the brakes with three crucial breakthroughs.

UAE captain Muhammad Waseem was the first to fall, dismissed by pacer Kaleem Sana. Zafar then rocked the middle order, first removing Alishan Sharafu, who mistimed a cover drive to Nicholas Kirton at extra cover, before sending back Mayank Kumar and Harshit Kaushik with catches at long-on and midwicket respectively.

At the halfway stage, UAE needed 92 runs from 60 balls.

Crucial stand turns the tide

Just when the chase threatened to slip away, Aryansh found able support in Sohaib, who counter-attacked with four sixes and as many boundaries.

The duo added a decisive 83-run partnership for the fifth wicket, reducing the equation to 26 off 12 balls.

Aryansh held his nerve, striking successive boundaries before adding another off a free hit in the penultimate over.

Needing eight from the final over, he launched a towering six to relieve the pressure. Canada managed a late wicket, but it proved too little too late as debutant Muhammad Arfan found the boundary to seal a memorable win.

Canada undone early by Siddique

Earlier, after opting to bat, Canada were rocked early as Siddique and Muhammad Jawadullah tore through the top order inside the first four overs. Siddique set the tone with a probing opening spell, claiming two wickets upfront before returning to add three more at the death.

He began by pitching one up around off to tempt skipper Dilprit Bajwa into an aerial shot, only for the opener to mistime it and offer a simple catch. Siddique then moved to a tight fifth-stump line, angling the ball away as Yuvraj Samra attempted a pull, resulting in a regulation catch at mid-on.

Jawadullah joined the action immediately, striking with his first delivery to dismiss the dangerous Nicholas Kirton, who edged behind, leaving Canada three down inside six overs.

Harsh Thaker attempted a recovery with a 41-ball 50, briefly lifting the innings with a four and a six. He put together two important stands — a 58-run partnership with Navneet Dhaliwal (34) and a 33-run association with Shreyas Movva (21).

However, Siddique returned in the 18th over to remove Thaker just as he looked to accelerate. In his next over, he accounted for Movva with a slower bouncer before dismissing Zafar, bringing an end to Canada’s late push.

(With PTI Inputs)