UAE Women executes Rare 'Retired Out' Strategy in T20I Win Over Qatar

Add as a preferred source on Google

In a move that has raised eyebrows across the cricketing world, the United Arab Emirates women's team executed one of the rarest tactics seen in international T20 cricket, retiring out their entire batting lineup - in their clash against Qatar during the ICC Women's T20 World Cup Asia Qualifiers 2025 in Bangkok on Saturday, May 10.

Playing at the Terdthai Cricket Ground, UAE won the toss and chose to bat first. What followed was sheer dominance as openers Esha Rohit Oza and Theertha Satish unleashed a relentless assault on the Qatari bowlers.

The duo stitched together a record-breaking opening stand of 192 runs in just 16 overs, with Oza leading the charge with a scintillating 113 off 55 balls, while Satish provided strong support with a 42-ball 74.

But in a surprise twist, and with rain reportedly in the forecast, UAE took the unprecedented step of retiring out every batter who walked in after the opening stand. As T20 Internationals do not allow formal declarations, each player simply marked their presence at the crease and immediately walked off, effectively ending the innings without losing a wicket.

The unusual strategy didn't backfire. UAE's mammoth total proved far beyond Qatar's reach. The Qatari side was bundled out for just 29 runs in 11.1 overs, handing UAE a resounding 163-run victory. Michelle Botha starred with the ball, taking 3 for 11 in her four overs, while Katie Thompson picked up two wickets. Esha, who also contributed with a tidy over claiming one wicket for a single run, was named Player of the Match for her all-round brilliance.

With this emphatic win, UAE now top the points table with four points and a staggering net run rate of +6.998. This was their second straight win, having earlier crushed Malaysia by nine wickets. They are set to face Malaysia once again on May 13 at the same venue.