(MENAFN- Khaleej Times)

The UAE proved that its cricket is on the right track by qualifying for the 2026 T20 World Cup on Thursday.

Muhammad Waseem's men clinched the deal with a thumping eight-wicket win over Japan in a Super Six match of the ICC Men's T20 World Cup Asia & EAP Qualifier at Al Amerat, Oman.

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This was the UAE's second straight win in the Super Six stage following their big victory over Samoa on Wednesday.

The nine-team ICC Men's T20 World Cup Asia & EAP Qualifier was a qualifying event for next year's T20 World Cup, which will be co-hosted by India and Sri Lanka.

The UAE became the third team in the qualifying tournament in Oman to secure a spot at the global showpiece after Nepal and Oman, which had booked their berths on Wednesday.

The T20 World Cup qualification is a great boost for a country that has taken some pioneering initiatives to help the game grow at the grassroots level.

Among the major steps taken by the Emirates Cricket Board was the launch of the International League T20 (ILT20), the UAE's ILP-style league.

The lucrative tournament attracts some of the world's biggest stars, giving great exposure to homegrown players.

The experience gained by local players in the ILT20 has certainly helped them progress further.

On Thursday, the UAE, needing a victory to confirm their spot at the World Cup, produced their top form as their bowlers restricted the Japanese team to 116 for nine.

Left-arm spinner Haider Ali delivered an outstanding performance, taking three wickets for 20 runs from his four overs.

Right-arm medium pacer Muhammad Arfan claimed two wickets for 24 runs as Junaid Siddique, Dhruv Parashar and Zahid Ali claimed one wicket each.

If not for wicketkeeper-batter Wataru Miyauchi's 32-ball unbeaten 45, Japan would have been bowled out for less than a hundred runs.

In reply, the prolific Alishan Sharafu (46 off 27 balls, 4 fours, 3 sixes) and skipper Muhammad Waseem (42 off 26 balls, 8 fours) set up the big win for the UAE with their 70-run opening partnership.

It was a cakewalk for the Emirati team, even as Waseem and Sharafu failed to complete their half-centuries, with Mayank Kumar (13 not out) and Rahul Chopra (14 not out) taking the team home with eight wickets and 43 balls to spare.

For Sharafu, this was a special tournament as the 22-year-old Kerala-born batter finished the event with 283 runs at a fantastic average of 56.60.

An aggressive right-handed batter, Sharafu has also added a new dimension to his batting by learning to mix caution with aggression.

“I always love playing aggressive cricket, but you have to adapt to different conditions,” Sharafu had told the Khaleej Times recently.

"It's something that I have been working on recently because you don't get pitches every day where it's easy to play your shots. I think going forward, I will try to focus on playing according to situations more.”

The rising star's growing maturity was the icing on the cake for the UAE, which will be making their third appearance at the T20 World Cup, having played in the 2014 and 2022 editions of the global event.

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