UAE U-19 romped to victory in the final of the Western region Qualifiers to qualify for the ACC U-19 Asia Cup by defeating Kuwait U-19 by a big margin of 194 runs (Duckworth-Lewis).
Half-centuries from Fahad Nawaz (69 off 78), Aryan Lakra (51 off 77) & Krishna Lakhani (55 off 47) and a late cameo from Hrithik (48 off 37) powered UAE U-19 to 275/7 in their 47 overs as the match was reduced by 3 overs at the start of the play.
The opening partnership of 113 between Fahad and Aryan laid the foundation while a 95 runs partnership for the 5th wicket between Krishna and Hrithik took them close to 250 in then 44th over.
Abdul Sadiq (3/57) and Mushtaq Ahmad (2/39) got success with the ball for Kuwait U-19.
Kuwait’s chase started horribly wrong with the team losing half their side in the 8th over with only 21 runs on board. The innings never recovered from there as they got bowled out for only runs to lose the match by runs. Only Anas Ashfaq (20 off 26) managed to score in double digits.
Muhammad Ali (3/19) and Fahad Nawaz (3/10) started the wicket-fest and Rahul Neelesh followed up on his dream run in the tournament, picking up 3/14 before to reduce Kuwait to 50/9 in 20 overs before rain stopped play.
The last pair came out after rain was over and delayed the inevitable for another 13 overs before Kuwait U-19 got bowled out for 80 in 33.1 overs to lose the match by 194 runs under the Duckworth-Lewis method.
UAE U-19 joins U-19 teams from Afghanistan, Pakistan and Sri Lanka in their group in the ACC U-19 Asia Cup, starting Nov 9th at the same venues.
