Debutant Mufti runs Lions close

England Lions 223 for 8 (Clarke 42, S Curran 40, Qadeer 3-48) beat UAE 207 (Mufti 69, Mustafa 40, Rayner 3-27, C Overton 3-29) by 16 runs Scorecard

England Lions completed a clean sweep of their one-day series against the United Arab Emirates in Dubai today thanks to the depth of their batting and the quality of their bowling and fielding.

The Lions top order failed to fire for the second game in succession after they were put in on a tricky pitch, with only Joe Clarke of the top five passing 30.

But they still posted a decent total of 223 for 8, the highest of a low-scoring series, thanks to handy contributions lower down the order, led by 40 for the Surrey allrounder Sam Curran, who later impressed with the ball, alongside Craig Overton and Ollie Rayner, who both took three wickets.

The UAE still threatened to pull off an unlikely win led by Adnan Mufti, a 31-year-old left-hander from Rawalpindi, on his debut, but Mufti was run out by Liam Livingstone’s powerful throw from the long on boundary with the UAE still 16 runs short.

“I think it was quite good for us to be in a tight game at the end there,” said Rayner, who ended with 3 for 27 from his 10 overs. “Their …

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