Scope to improve: Drakes

KUALA LUMPUR // Vasbert Drakes deemed that his UAE side played at "60 per cent" of their capacity in beating Afghanistan by three wickets on Saturday. If the coach's assessment is added to the form-book, and fed into a calculator, then they will have to improve by around 228 runs if they are going to beat Bahrain today. Bahrain smashed Saudi Arabia - who themselves conquered the UAE earlier - by 198 runs yesterday, which should make them clear favourites. It could also be argued that the Emirates have a 100-odd run cushion over their rivals, as they beat Afghanistan, who toppled Malaysia and who had in turn beaten Bahrain first time out.

@Email:pradley@thenational.ae