United Arab Emirates batters retired out en masse in an effort to end their match against Qatar quickly with rain threatening to affect the Women's Twenty20 World Cup Asian qualifier in Bangkok on Friday.
UAE reached 192-0 in 16 overs with captain Esha Oza making 113 off 55 balls before deciding to finish their innings early to avoid a washout.
Ending an innings by declaration is not allowed in T20 Internationals, however so, every batter had to pad up and walk to the middle before retiring without facing a ball.
Theertha Satish and UAE captain Esha Oza had a solid beginning, putting up a score of 45 for no loss in the first six overs. From that point, they began to pick up the pace, reaching 90 runs by the first half of the innings. Oza brought up her half-century during the 11th over, while Satish followed suit in the 12th.
The UAE's captain took just 15 more deliveries to achieve her hundred, reaching it off 51 balls. She finished unbeaten with 113 runs, while Satish scored 74, leaving the team total at 192 runs with no wickets lost after 16 overs.
Though the batting duo both retired, the game continued in an unexpected fashion.
With rain looming, the UAE management -- led by experienced all-rounder and coach Ahmed Raza -- came up with an unexpected tactic.
The remaining UAE players came onto the pitch in pairs and promptly retired out as well.
The scorecard reflected an unusual situation, with all ten batters retiring on the same delivery, specifically 16, and eight of them did so without facing a delivery.
UAE then bowled out Qatar for 29 in 11.1 overs to secure a crushing win by 163 runs and remain top of Group B.
If this were a first-class fixture, the side might as well have declared, but given that it was a T20I encounter, UAE had no such option.
The top team from each of the three groups will compete in a final 'Super Three' round, with the top two qualifying for next year's World Cup in England and Wales.
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