Mustafa's rare feat seals series for UAE

UAE 251 for 9 (Mustafa 109, Vala 3-30, Bau 2-35) beat Papua New Guinea 148 (Ura 40, Mustafa 5-25, Haider 2-32) by 103 runs

and ball-by-ball details

Rohan Mustafa's all-round show, a century coupled with a five-for, handed Papua New Guinea a 103-run drubbing in the three-match series decider at Sheikh Zayed Stadium, to give United Arab Emirates a 2-1 series victory.

Mustafa, joined the ranks of Viv Richards and Paul Collingwood, by making 109 before running through the visitors' line-up with returns of five for 25 to clinch the bilateral series for his side.

Coming off the back of a loss triggered by a middle-order collapse, Mustafa, the UAE captain, anchored the hosts' innings with a well-constructed 125-ball knock - studded with seven fours and one six - while laying a solid platform with an opening-wicket partnership of 101 runs with Mohammed Qasim (33). However, the inability of the other batsmen, barring Qasim and Rameez Shahzad (37), to notch up a score in excess of 20, decelerated UAE's innings.

The combined returns of five for 82 from PNG's Assad Vala and John Reva subsequently accounted for a middle-order collapse - starkly reminiscent of the one in the second ODI - as UAE slumped from 208 for 3 to 226 for 8 in less than five overs, before finishing on 251 for 9.

In reply, the openers Tony Ura (40) and Vani Morea (36) got PNG off to a positive start, adding 76 runs for the first wicket. However, following Ura's dismissal in the 15th over, Mustafa's offbreaks stifled the opposition's run-chase, as only two other PNG batsmen managed to get into double figures. Imran Haider, Mohammed Qasim, Ahmed Raza, picked up four wickets between them, before Mustafa completed his maiden five-wicket haul to bowl PNG out for 148 and seal the series for the hosts.