After suffering a heavy defeat to Afghanistan in their opening match, a convincing win against Canada set them up for a winner-takes-all match against the Middle Eastern nation who had almost identical results against others in the group.

South Africa laid down a strong challenge, with all but three of their batsmen having a strike rate of 100 per cent or over.

JA Bird made 43 runs from 36 balls with Khanya Cotani being struck out for 19 runs from 26.

But captain Bryce Parsons and Luke Beaufort turned average batting into exceptional with the two batsmen scoring 84 and 85 runs respectively, scoring 15 fours between them with Parsons hitting two sixes. 

With South Africa scoring 299 runs for eight wickets in 50 overs, the UAE were set a tough target and their captain Arya Lakra was out quickly for six runs from 11 balls before Vriitya Aravind made 31 off 17 balls, with their highest batsman being Jonathan Figy who had 36 not out. 

However, the rain came pouring down, putting a dampener on the possible resurgence of UAE after a poor start. 

Using the Duckworth–Lewis–Stern method, South Africa won by 23 runs in a fairly tight contest but the Proteas' score was always going to be difficult to turn around.

In other groups, there were matches for group places rather than further progression in the tournament. 

In Group A, Sri Lanka made quick work of Japan in a match reduced to 22 overs because of rain, chasing down their target of 44 for the loss of just one wicket.

In Group B, England made up for two earlier losses to West Indies and Australia with a comfortable win over Nigeria, who were 58 all out.

England chased down their target for the loss of just two wickets.

In Group C, Scotland suffered another heavy defeat in their match against Zimbabwe.

After the Scots were bowled out for 140 Zimbabwe chased down their target for the loss of two wickets.