UAE records big win over Kuwait while Oman beat Bahrain in a thriller and Qatar races past Saudi Arabia

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

UAE scored an emphatic 140-runs win over Kuwait through their skipper Shrey Sethi’s knock of 60 and Yug Jai Sharma’s fine spell of 3 for 20, while Oman defeated Bahrain by two wickets in a well-fought match. Qatar outplayed Saudi Arabia through skipper Taha Shahbaz’s spectacular allround show that included a deadly spell of 5 for 14 and a fine knock of 65 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.

Sethi’s half century and Yug Sharma’s early strikes down Kuwait

UAE won the toss and elected to bat on Vision 2 ground. Openers Akshat Rai and captain Shrey Sethi gave another excellent start putting on 55 runs in 7.4 overs. This partnership ended when Rai got run out for 25. UAE went past the 100 run mark but at the score on 103, one-drop Muhammad Rayan Khan got out to Rudransh Panchal for 18. This was followed by UAE losing three quick wickets at the score on 110. Shalom D’Souza got out for a duck to Panchal. Madav Manoj Nair too got out leg before to Panchal for a duck. At the same score, Shrey Sethi, who played brilliantly to score 60 runs off 45 balls with eight boundaries and a six, fell to Janath Jeewanga Herath Liyanage.

The consistent Yayin Kiran Rai then took up the mantle of lifting his team to a big total along with Uddish Suri. They took the score to 186 in 29.6 overs before Rai got out to Maheshkumar Mehta for 43. At the same score, Uddish Suri too got run out for 30. Muhammad Ismai and Ismail Abdullah took the score past the 200 run-mark but at the score on 210 Ismail got out bowled by Ummer Abbas for 6. Ten runs later, Dhiman who hit a quick 23 got out to Dhaksh Lakshman Dheeraj. Yug Sharma then swelled the total to 230 by scoring an unbeaten 10 and Ismail Abdullah remained unbeaten on 2. Rudransh Panchal stood out among the Kuwait bowlers with a spell of 3 for 36.

Kuwait began confidently with opener Het Kishorbhai Hinsu scoring a quick 17 runs and putting on a 25 runs opening partnership with Ummer Abbas in 5.4 overs. But Kishorbhai got out clean bowled by Ismail Abdullah while Yug Jai Sharma got one-drop batsman Mohammad Armaan Ilyas out for a duck. Yug Sharma also got skipper Jay Maheshkumar Mehta clean bowled for a duck.  Kuwait this slipped to 26 for 3 in 6.6 overs.

A fighting knock of 31 from Farhan Altaf Sain followed but Madhav Manoj Nair got Vedant Pradeep Utekar out for 7. Yug Sharma struck again to clean bowl Muhammad Aqif Farooq for a duck. At the score on 83, Arsh Sahil Kazmi got bowled by Akshat Rai for 11. Soon, Farhan Alaf Sain too got run out for 31 and Janath Jeewanga Herath Liyanage also got bowled by Rai for 2. Kuwait was bowled out for 90 in 34.6 after Rudransh Panchal got run out for 1.

Brief scores:
UAE bt Kuwait by 140 runs. UAE 230 in 35 overs (Akshat Rai 25, Shrey Sethi 60, Yayin Kiran Rai 43, Uddish Suri 30, Karan Dhiman 23, Rudransh Panchal 3 for 36, Dhaksh Lakshman Dheeraj 2 for 47) Kuwait 90 in 35 overs (Farhan Altaf Sain 31, Yug Jai Sharma 3 for 20, Ismail Abdullah 2 for 17, Akshat Rai 2 for 7)
Man of the Match: Shrey Sethi

Oman’s thrilling two-wicket win over Bahrain with three balls to spare

Bahrain won the toss and elected to bat on Vision 4 ground. Opener Ayan Obaid Syed went for this shots and hit 16 runs in an opening partnership of 30 runs with Aryan Ashwin. Syed then got out to Prathieshhema Ramesh. One-drop Muhammed Basil Abdul Hakkim and Aryan Ashwin put on a 53 runs partnership for the second wicket in 58 balls before Aryan Alkesh Joshi got Hakkim out for 31. His 34-ball knock had five boundaries. Five runs later, Muhammad Adil Haq got out to Aneekchakrovarty for 4.

Sai Sarthak Vaddiraju and Ashwin took the score past the 100-run mark through a 50-runs partnership but at the score on 138, Vaddiraju got out to Ramesh for 23. Aryan Ashwin kept the score board moving and went on to add 29 runs in 31 balls with Anas Obaid Syed before Aryan Ashiwn got run out for 61. His knock off 78 balls had four boundaries. Syed remained unbeaten on 18 and took the score to 179 for 6 in 35 overs.

Oman’s chase began by losing their star batsman Devansh Loya clean bowled by Bahrain skipper Vishwaesh Gurumurthy for 4. Gurumurthy struck again to dismiss opener Jeet Vrajesh Shah for 14. This was followed by a fighting 42 runs partnership in 47 balls between Giriharankuttiraja Karuthapandian and Kriv Rajesh Patel. At the score on 69, Karuthapandian got out to Mohammed Shaheen Tajuddeen for 29. Kriv Rajesh Patel and Kavish Rajeshkumar Shah took the score to 137 through a 68 runs partnership in 91 balls. Patel got out to Sai Sarthak Vaddiraju for 36.

It looked like Bahrain was sailing towards a victory when Puladith Omidu Medagodamedagoda Ralalage got trapped leg before by Vaddiraju for a duck and Rahil Daniyalhabibulla got clean bowled to Gurumurthy for another duck. Two runs later Kavish Rajeshkumar Shah got run out for 33. But Varshieth Saai Dinesh and Aneekchakrovarty pulled Oman out from the jaws of defeat through a 24 runs partnership in 25 balls.

When 15 more runs were needed for the victory, Aneekchakrovarty got run out for 15. Dinesh, by scoring an invaluable unbeaten 20, aling with Prathieshhema Ramesh took the team to the target with three balls to spare.  Bahrain captain Vishwaesh Gurumurthy’s fine spell of 3 for 40 went in vain.

Brief scores:
Oman bt Bahrain by 2 wkts. Bahrain 179 for 6 in 35 overs (Aryan Ashwin 61, Muhammed Basil Abdul Hakkim 31, Sai Sarthak Vaddiraju 23, Prathieshhema Ramesh 2 for 30) Oman 180 for 8 in 34.3 overs (Giriharankuttiraja Karuthapandian 29, Kriv Rajesh Patel 36, Kavish Rajeshkumar Shah 33, Varshieth Saai Dinesh 20n.o, Vishwaesh Gurumurthy 3 for 40, Sai Sarthak Vaddiraju 2 for 25)
Man of the Match: Kriv Rajesh Patel

Skipper Taha Shahbaz steals the show in Qatar’s win  

Saudi Arabia won the toss and elected to bat on Vision 1 ground. Their opener Mohammed Azain Shakeeb got run out to the last ball of the first over for a duck. This was followed by a 49 runs partnership in 69 balls between Omair Ahmed Wahab and opener Hashir Ahmad Sajjad. Wahab got out to Riyan Khan for 23. Fahad Munir and Sajjad 86 runs in 97 balls before Munir got out to Taha Shahbaz for 43. His knock off 47 balls had two boundaries and three sixes. Two runs later, Sajjad too got out to Shahbaz for 57. His knock off 79 balls had six boundaries.

Taha Vaseem Amre took the score to 152 before Shahbaz struck again to have Amre caught and bowled for 8. Eight runs after, Shahbaz removed Syed Usman Siddiq for 5. Skipper Mohammad Zuber Sunasara too became another Shahbaz victim for 10. Next man Anas got trapped leg before to Aryan Surani for a duck and Shahzad Sami got run out for 7. Saudi Arabia thus posted 172 for 9 in 34.5 overs.

Qatar could not get off to a comfortable start. They lost opener Sami Ahsun to the fourth ball of the first over clean bowled by Muhammad Abdullah for a duck.  At the score on 10, opener Huzaifa Usman Siddiqui too got bowled by Fahad Munir for 1. This was followed by a match-winning stubborn partnership of 102 in 138 balls between Shaikh Zayed Hussain and captain Taha Shahbaz. Shaikh Zayed Hussain cracked 51 off 75 balls with seven boundaries before getting out to Mohammad Zuber Sunasara.  Shahbaz then added another 32 runs with Sawwaf Shafwan before falling to Hashir Ahmad Sajjad for 65. His knock off 86 balls had nine boundaries. 
 
Shafwan and Riyan Khan, through another valuable unbeaten 32 runs partnership in 23 balls, took their team to the target. Khan remained unbeaten on 19 while Shafwan remained unconquered on 22. Qatar reached the target in 33.4 overs.

Brief scores:
Qatar bt Saudi Arabia by 6 wkts. Saudi Arabia 172 for 9 in 34.5 overs (Hashir Ahmad Sajjad 57, Omair Ahmed Wahab 23, Fahad Munir 43, Taha Shabbaz 5 for 14) Qatar 176 for 4 in 33.4 overs (Shaikh Zayed Hussain 51, Taha Shahbaz 65, Sawwaf Shafwan 22n.o)
Man of the Match:  Taha Shahbaz