There was good news for UAE cricket fans as the junior team qualified for the 2020 U19 World Cup after emerging as Asian champions in the qualifiers in Malaysia.
Led by Aryan Lakra, UAE comfortably defeated Oman by 10 wickets at the Bayuemas Oval in Kuala Lumpur to top the Asian qualifiers with five wins out of five and make it to the U19 showpiece event in South Africa next year.
In the clash against Oman, Lakra led the way with the ball and bat, first snaring 3-27 with his left-arm spin to help bowl out Oman for a paltry 105 and then finishing the case off with an unbeaten 51 as UAE reached the target in the 13th over.
Off-spinner Rishabh Mukherjee took three wickets each as well while opening seamer Akasha Tahir and Karthik Meiyappan took two each to help dismiss Oman in the 44th over.
The target was never going to bother the UAE with openers Lakra (51* off 45 balls) and Syed Haider (56* off 28) sealing a straightforward win.
Lakra was named ‘player of the match’ for the third consecutive game and was also declared ‘player of the series’. The left-handed batsman finished with 120 runs from five games along with 13 wickets from his left-arm spin. Off-spinner Muhammad Farazuddin was the other top performer for the UAE finishing with 10 wickets in the tournament.
The U19 World Cup will be held in South Africa in January-February next year. It is the second time the UAE have qualified for the tournament after hosting the 2014 edition.
An all-round performance from skipper Aryan Lakra – a fifty and three wickets – helped @EmiratesCricket qualify for ICC U19 Cricket World Cup 2020 in South Africa.
— ICC (@ICC) April 19, 2019
The 17-year-old was also adjudged Player of the Series. 👏 pic.twitter.com/oD70a6ZUxX
