Ireland vs UAE Prediction & Betting Tips - ICC World Cup Qualifier

Prediction published on 26/06/2023, 17:00  by Devesh Jaganath in Cricket Predictions

Ireland will take on the UAE in an ICC World Cup qualifier at the Bulawayo Athletic Club Sports Grounds on Tuesday. This is the final match of the group stages, and neither side can progress to the Super Six. Ireland currently sit second-from-bottom in Group B and have not won any of their three matches to date. Following a loss in their final warm-up match against the Netherlands, the Irish got their qualification run off to the worst possible start by losing their first match by 11 wickets to Oman, despite going into the match as the favourites. They put on a much better effort against Scotland in their second match and were only narrowly beaten by one wicket, but their hopes of qualification were dashed by Sri Lanka, who romped to victory over them by 133 runs on Sunday. While they have nothing to play for, Ireland will want to sign off from the competition on a winning note as they head into this match as the favourites. 

Meanwhile, the UAE would have relished the opportunity to go up against the likes of Sri Lanka in this competition, but they are evidently still a long way from being able to compete at the very highest level. They have been rooted to the bottom of Group B since their first match, where they lost to Sri Lanka by a massive 175 runs. That was followed by a five-wicket loss to Oman and another big loss to Scotland in their last match. They have the second-worst run rate (-2.071) of any side in the competition, with only the USA faring worse. Aayan Afzal Khan is the only player to have recorded a half-century for UAE in this competition and is the top-scorer for his side, but with a tally of just 86 runs in three innings, it isn’t really much to write home about. They will likely find it difficult in this match as well.