Esha Oza says the UAE’s crushing tri-series win in Windhoek is evidence the national team are making definite progress in the women’s game.
The UAE dominated a tournament that included Test nation Zimbabwe, as well as a Namibia side that had soundly beaten them the last time the sides met.
Since that 4-2 series loss to the Namibians in Dubai last year, the national team have enjoyed some notable highs, as well as some painful lows.
They were within 15 runs of a shock win against Sri Lanka and making it to what would have been a home Women’s T20 World Cup.
Following that rousing display in the World Cup Qualifier, they then went to the Asia Cup in Sri Lanka with hopes soaring over causing an upset. What followed, though, were limp defeats against India, Pakistan and Nepal.
Their performance in bouncing back in Namibia spoke much of the character of Oza’s young team. They lost just once, and that too only narrowly against Zimbabwe, and won the other five matches in the three-team tournament.
Oza said her side were determined to show their improved results – including a last-ball win against Zimbabwe in Abu Dhabi a couple of years ago – were not by chance.
“People could say it was a fluke and a one-off,” said Oza, who herself scored 84 in one of their two wins against Zimbabwe in Windhoek. “Even before this series, we had only beaten Zimbabwe once, and people could say that was a fluke, too, that we had just had a good day.
“But now we have beaten them twice out of three games, and the one we lost also went to the last over, so it shows it is no fluke. It is our hard work paying off. We are progressing well as a team.”
While the wins against Zimbabwe will have been more widely appreciated, given their status as full members of the ICC, the successes against Namibia were gratefully received by the UAE, too.
Their last meeting had come at a seminal moment for the women’s game in the Emirates. It was the first series in which Oza was taking over the captaincy from Chaya Mughal.
“Getting the better of them 3-0 this time was great,” Oza said. “The tournaments we had played coming up to this series – the global Qualifier and the Asia Cup – we have put the lessons from those to good use now.
“We are executing our plans a lot better, and we know a lot better what we need to be doing. We set a few goals that we wanted to achieve in this tournament, and we ticked so many boxes.
“The way we played our cricket, we were more fearless [compared with] how we had been before, and that showed in the results.”
Oza acknowledged that her side had been dejected after their performance in Sri Lanka at the Asia Cup, but said they still have a clear idea of where they want to get to.
“There were high expectations, especially after the Sri Lanka game,” Oza said. “We had high expectations that we could roll over one of the top sides, and also that we could perform better against Nepal, but we couldn’t do either.
“We were disappointed for a bit, but it just means you have to get up again and work harder. That’s what we did. When we met up again for our next training session, we said, ‘These are the things we want to work on’.
“They might not work straight away, and it might take six months to play the way we want to, but it is about giving it everything and seeing how it works out. If you don’t try doing that, it is never going to happen.”
In Windhoek, the UAE batters breached the 140-run mark in two of the six matches. Theertha Satish, the wicketkeeper-batter, was the leading run-scorer in the campaign with 245 runs at an average of 61.25 and a strike-rate of 141.61.
“Something we talked about was playing more attacking cricket,” Oza said. “If you see the scores around the world, women’s T20Is have evolved. It is no longer a game if you make 120. You need 140 on the board.
“It is the same in franchise leagues. Teams aren’t stopping at 120. You see 120 scored in The Hundred, and that is only 100 balls.
“Coach Ahmed [Raza] has been insisting we work on improving our strike rates, and playing more freely and attacking, especially in the Powerplay and towards the end of the innings.
“Even with the ball, we used to be more conservative with the way we bowl, and now we are more attacking. We are attacking the stumps, even if the batters are going after us. That is working for us as a team.”
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The biog
From: Upper Egypt
Age: 78
Family: a daughter in Egypt; a son in Dubai and his wife, Nabila
Favourite Abu Dhabi activity: walking near to Emirates Palace
Favourite building in Abu Dhabi: Emirates Palace
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More coverage from the Future Forum
WHAT IS GRAPHENE?
It was discovered in 2004, when Russian-born Manchester scientists Andrei Geim and Kostya Novoselov were experimenting with sticky tape and graphite, the material used as lead in pencils.
Placing the tape on the graphite and peeling it, they managed to rip off thin flakes of carbon. In the beginning they got flakes consisting of many layers of graphene. But when they repeated the process many times, the flakes got thinner.
By separating the graphite fragments repeatedly, they managed to create flakes that were just one atom thick. Their experiment led to graphene being isolated for the very first time.
In 2010, Geim and Novoselov were awarded the Nobel Prize for Physics.
Scoreline
Liverpool 3
Mane (7'), Salah (69'), Firmino (90')
Bournemouth 0
MATCH INFO
Wales 1 (Bale 45 3')
Croatia 1 (Vlasic 09')
The National in Davos
We are bringing you the inside story from the World Economic Forum's Annual Meeting in Davos, a gathering of hundreds of world leaders, top executives and billionaires.
23-man shortlist for next six Hall of Fame inductees
Tony Adams, David Beckham, Dennis Bergkamp, Sol Campbell, Eric Cantona, Andrew Cole, Ashley Cole, Didier Drogba, Les Ferdinand, Rio Ferdinand, Robbie Fowler, Steven Gerrard, Roy Keane, Frank Lampard, Matt Le Tissier, Michael Owen, Peter Schmeichel, Paul Scholes, John Terry, Robin van Persie, Nemanja Vidic, Patrick Viera, Ian Wright.
Wicked: For Good
Director: Jon M Chu
Starring: Ariana Grande, Cynthia Erivo, Jonathan Bailey, Jeff Goldblum, Michelle Yeoh, Ethan Slater
Rating: 4/5
Specs
Engine: Dual-motor all-wheel-drive electric
Range: Up to 610km
Power: 905hp
Torque: 985Nm
Price: From Dh439,000
Available: Now
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
More on Quran memorisation:
Recipe: Spirulina Coconut Brothie
Ingredients
1 tbsp Spirulina powder
1 banana
1 cup unsweetened coconut milk (full fat preferable)
1 tbsp fresh turmeric or turmeric powder
½ cup fresh spinach leaves
½ cup vegan broth
2 crushed ice cubes (optional)
Method
Blend all the ingredients together on high in a high-speed blender until smooth and creamy.
Developer: Ubisoft Montreal / Ubisoft Toronto
Publisher: Ubisoft
Platforms: Playstation 4, Xbox One, Windows
Release Date: April 10
HIJRA
Starring: Lamar Faden, Khairiah Nathmy, Nawaf Al-Dhufairy
Director: Shahad Ameen
Rating: 3/5
About Karol Nawrocki
• Supports military aid for Ukraine, unlike other eurosceptic leaders, but he will oppose its membership in western alliances.
• A nationalist, his campaign slogan was Poland First. "Let's help others, but let's take care of our own citizens first," he said on social media in April.
• Cultivates tough-guy image, posting videos of himself at shooting ranges and in boxing rings.
• Met Donald Trump at the White House and received his backing.
Company Fact Box
Company name/date started: Abwaab Technologies / September 2019
Founders: Hamdi Tabbaa, co-founder and CEO. Hussein Alsarabi, co-founder and CTO
Based: Amman, Jordan
Sector: Education Technology
Size (employees/revenue): Total team size: 65. Full-time employees: 25. Revenue undisclosed
Stage: early-stage startup
Investors: Adam Tech Ventures, Endure Capital, Equitrust, the World Bank-backed Innovative Startups SMEs Fund, a London investment fund, a number of former and current executives from Uber and Netflix, among others.
List of alleged parties
May 12, 2020: PM and his wife Carrie attend 'work meeting' with at least 17 staff
May 20, 2020: They attend 'bring your own booze party'
Nov 27, 2020: PM gives speech at leaving party for his staff
Dec 10, 2020: Staff party held by then-education secretary Gavin Williamson
Dec 13, 2020: PM and his wife throw a party
Dec 14, 2020: London mayoral candidate Shaun Bailey holds staff event at Conservative Party headquarters
Dec 15, 2020: PM takes part in a staff quiz
Dec 18, 2020: Downing Street Christmas party
Country-size land deals
US interest in purchasing territory is not as outlandish as it sounds. Here's a look at some big land transactions between nations:
Louisiana Purchase
If Donald Trump is one who aims to broker "a deal of the century", then this was the "deal of the 19th Century". In 1803, the US nearly doubled in size when it bought 2,140,000 square kilometres from France for $15 million.
Florida Purchase Treaty
The US courted Spain for Florida for years. Spain eventually realised its burden in holding on to the territory and in 1819 effectively ceded it to America in a wider border treaty.
Alaska purchase
America's spending spree continued in 1867 when it acquired 1,518,800 km2 of Alaskan land from Russia for $7.2m. Critics panned the government for buying "useless land".
The Philippines
At the end of the Spanish-American War, a provision in the 1898 Treaty of Paris saw Spain surrender the Philippines for a payment of $20 million.
US Virgin Islands
It's not like a US president has never reached a deal with Denmark before. In 1917 the US purchased the Danish West Indies for $25m and renamed them the US Virgin Islands.
Gwadar
The most recent sovereign land purchase was in 1958 when Pakistan bought the southwestern port of Gwadar from Oman for 5.5bn Pakistan rupees.
UPI facts
More than 2.2 million Indian tourists arrived in UAE in 2023
More than 3.5 million Indians reside in UAE
Indian tourists can make purchases in UAE using rupee accounts in India through QR-code-based UPI real-time payment systems
Indian residents in UAE can use their non-resident NRO and NRE accounts held in Indian banks linked to a UAE mobile number for UPI transactions
Why seagrass matters
- Carbon sink: Seagrass sequesters carbon up to 35X faster than tropical rainforests
- Marine nursery: Crucial habitat for juvenile fish, crustations, and invertebrates
- Biodiversity: Support species like sea turtles, dugongs, and seabirds
- Coastal protection: Reduce erosion and improve water quality
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Section 375
Cast: Akshaye Khanna, Richa Chadha, Meera Chopra & Rahul Bhat
Director: Ajay Bahl
Producers: Kumar Mangat Pathak, Abhishek Pathak & SCIPL
Rating: 3.5/5
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