Unbeaten UAE emerges champions of the ACC Men’s Under-16 West Zone Cup through clinical performances against all their opponents

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

Unbeaten UAE emerged as the champions of the Asian Cricket Council (ACC) Men’s Under-16 West Zone Cup hosted by Bahrain Cricket Federation at the Vision Cricket Centre Grounds in Sharjah. Through a clean sweep over all their opponents, producing clinical performances in all their matches and registering emphatic victories, they emerged supreme in this six-nation tournament that ended on March 30. On the final day of the event, UAE defeated Bahrain by eight wickets.

 

Unbeaten UAE team with the Asian Cricket Council (ACC) Men’s Under-16 West Zone Cup 

In the earlier matches, UAE had defeated Saudi Arabia by 10 wickets, beaten Kuwait by 140 runs, trounced Qatar by 254 runs, and downed Oman by 106 runs to stamp their supremacy over all their opponents.

 

The final day also saw Kuwait’s Het Kishorbhai Hinsu crack a century (106) and Janath Jeewanga Herath Liyanage produce a five-wicket spell in their team’s massive 211-runs win over Qatar. In another match, Oman scored a 106-runs win over Saudi Arabia through their skipper Jeet Vrajesh Shah’s  fine knock of 75.

 

UAE’s Yayin Kiran Rai allround show downs Bahrain  

Bahrain had won the toss and elected to bat on the Vision 1 Ground. Openers Ayan Obaid Syed and Aryan Ashwin put on 26 runs before Yug Jai Sharma, who is known to provide early breakthroughs, removed Obaid Syed for 10. Aryan Ashwin and Sai Sarthak Vaddiraju took the score to 43 before Uddish Suri had Vaddiraju out for 10. This was followed by a 31-runs partnership in 52 balls between Aryan Ashwin and Muhammed Basil Abdul Hakkim for the third wicket. Ashwin, who batted well to score 34 runs, got out to Hemant Rao Valluri. Soon Muhammed Basil got clean bowled by Yayin Kiran Rai for 22.

 

Wickets began to fall regularly after Muhammad Adil Haq Nawaz too got clean bowled to Yayin Kiran Rai for 5 and Abhinav Girish Vashisht got run out for 10. The end of Bahrain’s innings became quicker when skipper Vishwaesh  Gurumurthy too got run out for 3. Yuj Jai Sharma returned to strike again and remove Akshant Mukesh for 3. Five runs later, Jugal Jiger  Brahmbhatt got out to Jaiditya Malik for 3 while Yug Sharma picked his third wicket when he clean bowled Anas Obaid Syed for 3. Bahrain was thus restricted to 115 in 34.2 overs.

 

Chasing the moderate total, opener Akshat Rai fell leg before to Muhammed Basil Abdul Hakkim for 17 after putting on a 35-runs partnership with his skipper Shrey Sethi.  One-drop batter Shalom D’Souza and Sethi added another 32 runs to guide UAE closer to victory. Sethi got out leg before to Sai Sarthak Vaddiraju for 26 at the score of 67.

 

Yayin Kiran Rai then joined D’Souza and steered UAE to the target in 20 overs through an unbeaten 51 runs partnership in 48 balls. D’Souza remained unbeaten on 44 off 51 balls with four boundaries and two sixes. Kiran Rai, who produced an allround show bagging two wickets, scored an unbeaten 17 to also bag the Man of the Match award.

 

Brief scores:
UAE bt Bahrain by 8 wkts. Bahrain 115 in 34.2 overs (Aryan Ashwin 34, Muhammed Basil Abdul Hakkim 22, Yug Jai Sharma 3 for 18, Yayin Kiran Rai 2 for 8) UAE 118 for 2 in 20 overs (Shrey Sethi 30, Shalom D’Souza 44n.o)
Man of the Match: Yayin Kiran Rai

 

Het Kishorbhai Hinsu’s sparkling ton in Kuwait’s win

 

Kuwait won the toss and elected to bat at the Vision 2 ground against Qatar. Their consistent opener Het Kishorbhai Hinsu and Ummer Abbas put on 83 runs in 10.2 overs. Abbas got out to Sukrit Subhadri Mitra for 27. A partnership of 91 runs in 88 balls then followed between Kishorbhai Hinsu and Jay Maheshkumar Mehta. Kishorbhai Hinsu went on to record a fine century. His knock of 106 off 78 balls had nine boundaries and four sixes before he fell to Taha Shahbaz. Fourteen runs later, Jay Maheshkumar too fell for 41 to Taha Shahbaz. Maheshkumar’s knock off 52 balls had two boundaries.

 

Arsh Sahil Kazmi then swelled the total through a fine half century. His knock of 51 runs off 29 balls had two boundaries and three sixes. Kazmi and Vedant Pradeep Utekar put on a 77 runs in 39 balls before Kazmi got out to Shaikh Zayed Hussain. Pradeep Utekar got out to Taha Shahbaz for 22. Taha Shabaz also got Muhammad Aqif Farooq for a duck while Melrick Vinith Serrao got run out for 9. Kuwait thus posted a whopping 282 for 7 in 35 overs. Taha Shahbaz returned with figures of 4 for 40 from his four overs.

 

Chasing the mammoth total, Qatar’s batting cracked before Kuwait’s bowlers. Opener Essam Mansoor got clean bowled to the second ball of the first over from Muhammad Aqif Farooq for a duck. Riyan Khan and skipper Shaikh Zayed Hussain took the score to 21 before Khan clean bowled by Janath Jeewanga Herath Liyanage for 5. Jeewanga Herath struck again to remove Taha Shahbaz for 4 while Muhammad Aqif Farooq clean bowled Sawwaf Shafwan for 6. Half the Qatar side was out for just 33 runs when Shaikh Zayed Hussain too fell to Jeewanga Herath for 11.

 

At the score of 35, Qatar lost three wickets. Anvit Ram Shetty got out to Muhammad Aqif Farooq for a duck followed by Joel Silas who was trapped leg before by Jeewanga Herath for 2, and Huzaifa Usman Siddiqui, also trapped leg before by Jeewanga Herath for a duck. Aryan Surani and Sukrit Subhadri Mitra however pulled the score to 71 by adding 36 runs for the ninth wicket before Mitra fell leg before to Jay MaheshKumar Mehta for 13. Chirag Christopher Raja got out offering a catch to Man of the Match Kishorbhai Hinsu off Mehta for a duck. Aryan Surani remained unbeaten on 15 while  Jeewanga Herath returned with figures of 5 for 28 from his seven overs.

 

Brief scores:
Kuwait bt Qatar by 211 runs. Kuwait 282 for 7 in 35 overs (Het Kishorbhai Hinsu 106, Ummer Abbas 27, Jay Maheshkumar 41, Arsh Sahil Kazmi 51, Vedant Pradeep Utekar 22, Taha Shahbaz 4 for 40) Qatar 71 in 19.4 overs (Muhammad Aqif Farooq 3 for 17, Janath Jeewanga Herath Liyanage 5 for 28, Jay MaheshKumar Mehta 2 for 0)
Man of the Match: Het Kishorbhai Hinsu

 

Oman skipper Jeet Vrajesh Shah’s brilliant 75 downs Saudi Arabia

 

Saudi Arabia won the toss and elected to field at the Vision 4 ground. Oman opener and captain Jeet Vrajesh Shah and Rishab Shivadasgupta put on an 86-runs partnership in 18.5 overs. This partnership ended when Anas clean bowled Shivadasgupta for 24. Giriharankuttiraja Karuthapandian and Shah then put on another 68 runs partnership in 53 balls to take the score to 154 in 27.4 overs before Shah got out to Syed Usman Siddiq for 75. His knock off 98 balls had ten boundaries. Fourteen runs later, Karuthapandian got trapped leg before by Siddiq for 28. Siddiq also got Varshieth Saai Dinesh out for a duck. Jeyapraneshayyappan Sangeetha got out caught and bowled by Taha Vaseem Amre for 12.

 

Rahil Daniyalhabibulla and Kriv Rajesh Patel then took the score past the 200-run mark. At the score of 218, Daniyalhabibulla got out to Siddiq for 27. Siddiq returned with figures of 4 for 52 while Patel remained unbeaten on 12. Oman thus posted 218 for 6 in 35 overs.

 

Chasing the target, Saudi Arabia openers Syed Usman Siddiq and Fahad Munir put on 30 runs before Munir got bowled by Puladith Omidu Medagodamedagoda Ralalage for 16. Five runs later, Siddiq fell to Varshieth Saai Dinesh for 6. Mohammed Azain Shakeeb got bowled by Prathieshhema Ramesh for a duck and two runs later Aymaan Shareef Mohammed got bowled by Kriv Rajesh Patel for a duck. Hashir Ahmad Sajjad ,who put up some resistance, fell leg before to Prathieshhema Ramesh for 15. At the score of 65, Saudi Arabia lost their sixth wicket when skipper Mohammad Zuber Sunasara got out to Aryan Alkeshjoshi for 9.

 

Omair Ahmed Wahab and Taha Vaseem Amre took the score to 97 before Patel got Wahab out for 8. At the same score, Amre too got out to Alkeshjoshi for 17. Muhammad Musab Asif followed clean bowled by Alkeshjoshi for 2 and Azhan Uddin Khan got out leg before to Patel for 2. Anas remained unbeaten on 11 and Saudi Arabia were bowled out for 112 in 28.4 overs. 

Brief scores:
Oman bt Saudi Arabia by 106 runs. Oman 218 for 6 in 35 overs (Jeet Vrajesh Shah 75, Rishab Shivadasgupta 24, Giriharankuttiraja Karuthapandian 28, Rahil Daniyalhabibulla 27, Syed Usman Siddiq 4 for 52) Saudi Arabia 112 in 28.4 overs (Prathieshhema Ramesh 2 for 17, Kriv Rajesh Patel 3 for 16, Aryan Alkeshjoshi 3 for 23)
Man of the Match: Jeet Vrajesh Shah