Shaiman Anwar took four wickets while Rameez Shahzad made the Netherlands pay as the UAE sealed a convincing five-wicket win to take an unassailable 2-0 series lead yesterday.

Chasing a competitive target of 240 in 50 overs, Shahzad was dropped at 14 by Tobias Visee with the game at 140-3.

That ultimately proved to be costly as Shahzad went on to score 43 but more crucially put on a 52-run stand with Muhammed Usman.

That paved the way for Usman (42no) and Adnan Mufti (20no) to see the side home and clinch a third consecutive series victory.

The result means the side has now won 10 matches in 12 games under head coach Dougie Brown, who oversaw the series wins against Papua New Guinea and Oman as interim earlier this year.

His troops can seal a series whitewash when the two nations meet again for the final time today.

Earlier, batsman Anwar was among the unlikely wicket-takers for the UAE as the vice-captain claimed four wickets with the Netherlands restricted to 239-9.

Top-scorer Ben Cooper (47) was among Anwar’s victims as the hosts failed to accelerate after being in a good position at 173-3.

In their chase, Rohan Mustafa scored a run-a-ball 58 to set the ball rolling, while Chirag Suri, who was recalled to the starting 11 in place of opener Mohammed Qasim was out for 23 runs.