KUALA LUMPUR, June 22: The United Arab Emirates defeated Oman by 94 runs to lift the Asian Cricket Council (ACC) Trophy capping a hat trick for the side. The UAE won the 2000 event in Sharjah and followed it up with a win in Singapore in 2002.

Oman won the toss and was confident enough to send UAE in to bat first. It proved to be a wise decision as Oman's bowler Hemin Desai moved the new ball and UAE's opening batsman Asim Saeed edged the ball to wicket-keeper Sultan Ahmed in the third over.

Hemal Mehta then bowled Asghar Ali in the sixth over to leave UAE struggling at 17 for two. However Arshad Ali and Naeemuddin (37) kept the scoreboard ticking with Arshad top scoring with 77 off 105.

They weathered the storm and put up 101 runs. Syed Maqsood, batting at No 5, then teamed up with Naeemuddin to hammer the Oman bowlers all over the oval. Maqsood plundered 67 off 67 balls and UAE were 202 for 5 in the 44th over but managed to reach 253 in the remaining six overs for the loss of seven wickets.

Hemal Mehta was the most economical bowler, taking three wickets for 38 runs. Oman batted well with Adnan Ilyas scoring 26 runs off just 28 balls with his partner Hemal Mehta (39) equally effective.

But it was their dismissal that led to the Oman downfall their innings ended with a disappointing 159 runs in 44 overs. UAE's Ali Assad was the toast of the side's bowlers taking four wickets for 38 runs. He was later judged Man-of-the-Match. After the finals the Asian Cricket Council named an ACC squad for a tour of Sri Lanka.

Squad: Suresh Navaratnam and Rohan Vishnu Suppiah (Malaysia) Arshad Ali, Asim Saeed (UAE), Khalid Butt (Kuwait), Omer Taj, Hemin Desai (Qatar), Nawroz Khan (Afghanistan), Sultan Ahmed (Oman), Sujith Rolegora (Qatar), Azmatullh (Kuwait), Qamar Sadiq (Qatar), Raj Kumar (Kuwait), Ali Asad (UAE), Mehboob Shah (Nepal) and Khuram Khan (UAE). -Agencies