UAE extends winning run through an emphatic 10-wicket win over Saudi Arabia while Bahrain outplays Kuwait by 52 runs and Qatar sinks Oman by 69 runs on a bowlers’ day

By K.R. Nayar,
Chief Content Writer, Asian Cricket Council (ACC) Men’s Under-16 West Zone Cup

It was a bowlers’ day in the Asian Cricket Council (ACC) Men’s Under-16 West Zone Cup being hosted by Bahrain Cricket Federation at the Vision Cricket Centre Grounds in Sharjah. UAE extended their unbeaten run through a ten-wicket win over Saudi Arabia thanks to three wicket spells from Hemant Rao Valluri and Yug Jai Sharma, while Bahrain outplayed Kuwait by 52 runs riding on Sai Sarthak Vaddiraju’s spell of five wickets for just eight runs from his seven overs. Qatar defeated Oman by 69 runs through another five wicket spell from Riyan Khan for 11 runs backed by Sukrit Subhadri Mitra (4 for 13).

UAE's Hemant Rao Valluri and Yug Jai Sharma wreck Saudi Arabia

Saudi Arabia had won the toss and elected to bat at the Vision 1 Ground. UAE’s opening bowler Yug Jai Sharma had opener Hashir Ahmad Sajjad out for 1. Hemant Rao Valluri clean bowled one-drop Omair Ahmed Wahab for 5 at the score on 17. Opener Mohammed Azain Shakeeb and Fahad Munir took the score to 31 when Prithvi Madu clean bowled Shakeeb for 11. Two runs later, Fahad Munir too got out to Valluri for 11. Half the Saudi Arabia side were out for just 36 runs in 14.6 overs when Taha Vaseem Amre became another Valluri victim for 2. This was followed by a 29 runs partnership between skipper Mohammad Zuber Sunasara and Shahzad Sami who took the score to 65.

 

Yug Jai Sharma ended this stubborn partnership by getting Sunasara out for 25. Meanwhile, Shahzad Sami got trapped leg before to Uddish Suri. One run later, Anas got run out for a duck and two runs later Azhan Uddin Khan got trapped leg before to Uddish Suri. Yug Jai Sharma ended Saudi Arabia innings for 70 in 21.4 overs by getting Muhammad Musab Asif out for 1.

Chasing the small target, UAE’s consistent opening pair scored freely. They reached the target in just 9.1 overs with Akshat Rai remaining unbeaten on 40 off 28 balls with four boundaries and two sixes while skipper Shrey Sethi scored an unbeaten 24 off 28 balls with four boundaries.

 

Brief scores:

UAE bt Saudi Arabia by 10 wkts. Saudi Arabia 70 in 21.4 overs (Mohammad Zuber Sunasara 25, Yug Jai Sharma 3 for 19, Uddish Suri 2 for 5 and Hemant Rao Valluri 3 for 13) UAE 74 for no loss in 9.1 overs (Akshat Rai 40, Shrey Sethi 24)
Man of the Match: Hemant Rao Valluri.

 

Bahrain's Sai Sarthak Vaddiraju's allround show sink Kuwait

 

Kuwait won the toss and elected to field on the Vision 2 Ground. Baharin got off to shaky start losing the first three wickets for just five runs. Opener Aryan Ashwin got out clean bowled by Muhammad Aqif Farooq for a duck, followed by opener Ayan Obaid Syed too getting out to Farooq for 2. Farooq also trapped Muhammed Basil Abdul Hakkim for a duck.

 

Sai Sarthak Vaddiraju then played a responsible knock of 36 along with Muhammad Adil Haq Nawaz, who also scored 36 runs. The pair put on 92 runs in 96 balls before both got out clean bowled by Rudransh Panchal. At the score on 98, Skipper Vishwaesh Gurumurthy got bowled by Janath Jeewanga Herath Liyanage for a duck but Abhinav Girish Vashisht swelled the total scoring an unbeaten 22 runs. Akshant Mukesh too hit 11 runs and helped Bahrain post a fighting total of 146 in 35 overs  

 

Kuwait began their chase losing opener Ummer Abbas to the fifth ball of the first over to Bahrain’s opening bowler Vishwaesh Gurumurthy for 4. One-drop Mohammed Armaan Ilyas did not last long getting out to Anas Obaid Syed for 2. Opener Het Kishorbhai Hinsu and skipper Jay Maheshkumar Mehta took the score to 30 when Kishorbhai was removed by Sai Sarthak Vaddiraju for 20. At the same score, Farhan Altaf Sain too fell to Vaddiraju trapped leg before for a duck.

Vedant Pradeep Utekar and Maheshkumar pushed the score to 55 when Ayan Obaid Syed struck again to clean bowl Utekar for 8. Two runs later, Muhammad Aqif Farooq got out clean bowled by Obaid for 1. Arsh Sahil Kazmi provided support to his skipper Maheshkumar to take the score to 80 before he too fell to Vaddiraju for 9. After nine runs, Janath Jeewanga Herath Liyanage got out to Mohammad Shaheen Tajudden for 1. Mahesh Kumar pushed the score to 94 with Rudransh Panchal before Panchal became Vaddiraju’s fourth victim for 1. Vaddiraju completed his five wicket haul clean bowling Dhaksh Lakshman Dheeraj for a duck and win by 52 runs.

 

Brief scores:

Bahrain bt Kuwait by 52 runs. Bahrain 146 in 35 overs (Sai Sarthak Vaddiraju 36, Muhammad Adil Haq Nawaz 36, Abhinav Girish Vashisht 22n.o, Muhammad Aqif Farooq 3 for 24, Rudransh Panchal 2 for 48, Dhaksh Lakshman Dheeraj 3 for 14) Kuwait 94 in 26 overs (Het Kishorbhai Hinsu 20, Jay Maheshkumar Mehta 35n.o, Sai Sarthak Vaddiraju 5 for 8, Ayan Obaid Syed 2 for 11)
Man of the Match: Sai Sarthak Vaddiraju

 

Qatar's Riyan Khan and Sukrit Subhadri Mitra destroy Oman

 

Oman won the toss and elected to field on the Vision 4 Ground. Qatar lost their opener Sukrit Subhadri Mitra for a duck to Puladith Omidu, Opener Anvit Ram Shetty scored 11 runs and along with Shaikh Zayed Hussain took the score to 35 before Shetty got out to Prathieshhema Ramesh. One run later, skipper Taha Shahbaz got out to consistent bowler Devansh Loya for 1. At the score on 40, Sawwaf Shafwan too got out to Loya for 4. Half the Qatar side was out for 68 when Shaikh Zayed Hussain too fell to Aryan Alkesh Joshi for 31.

 

Riyan Khan hit 10 runs before getting run out. Joe Silas too chipped in with 11 runs before getting caught and bowled by Alkesh Joshi for 11. Huzaifa Usman Siddiqui scored 14 runs before failing to Puladith Omidu. Though Prathieshhema Ramesh removed Esssam Mansoor  for 5, Aryan Surani (13n.o) and Chirag Christopher Raja (6n.o) helped Qatar post a challenging 140 for 9 in 35 overs.  

 

Oman began by losing the valuable wicket of Devansh Loya clean bowled by Huzaifa Usman Siddiqui for 11. Skipper and opener Jeet Vrajesh Shah and Giriharankuttiraja Karuthapandian took the score 48 before Riyan Khan clean bowled Shah for 23. At the same score, Riyan Khan clean bowled Kriv Rajesh Patel for a duck. Karuthapandian too got out with no addition to the score, clean boweld by Sukrit Subhadri Mitra for 6. Kavish Rajeshkumar Shah too got out caught and bowled by Mitra for a duck. Five down for 50 in 9.6 overs, defeat was staring at Oman.

 

Puladith Omidu Medagodamedagoda Ralalage hit 14 runs to take the score to 64 before falling to Riyan Khan. Four runs later, Varshieth Saai Dinesh became another Riyan Khan victim for a duck. Aneek Chakrovarty became Riyan Khan’s fifth victim by getting caught and bowled for a duck. Sukrit Subhadri Mitra speeded up his team’s victory by removing Rahil Daniyalhabibulla caught and bowled for 11 and Aryan Alkesh Joshi clean bowled for a duck.

 

Brief scores:
Qatar bt Oman by 69 runs. Qatar 140 for 9 in 35 overs (Shaikh Zayed Hussain 31, Puladith Omidu Medagodamedagoda Ralalage 2 for 19, Devansh Loya 2 for 17, Prathieshhema Ramesh 2 for 22, Aryan Alkesh Joshi 2 for 29) Oman 71 in 17.5 overs (Jeet Vrajesh Shah 23, Riyan Khan 5 for 11, Sukrit Subhadri Mitra 4 for 13)
Man of the Match: Riyan Khan