Heriot-Watt University claim UAE’s spot at Red Bull Campus Cricket Finals

Denzil Pinto 06:44 30/03/2015
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  • Headed to India: Heriot-Watt beat Skyline University to win the UAE’s Red Bull Cricket Final and earn a place in the Campus World Finals in India in October.

    It was all smiles for Heriot-Watt University players after they beat Skyline University by six wickets in the Red Bull Cricket Final. Besides lifting the trophy, the young cricketers had more reasons to celebrate as they will fly to India in October to represent the UAE at the Red Bull Campus Cricket World Finals.

    Their journey only began last month as they were among the 16 teams in contention to represent the country. They overcame strong teams to reach the final, rising to the occasion.

    Having won the toss and electing to field, Heriot-Watt restricted Skyline to 95-9 at 7he Sevens Stadium, following brilliant spells of fast-bowling from Mohsin Khan and Mohammed Naveed.

    Despite Maaz Ghulam’s top score of 28, the 96-run target was always gettable but Heriot-Watt had to survive an early scare.

    Skyline were on top after Adnaan Khan and former UAE Under-19 captain Rohit Singh were both dismissed. However, Faizan Ahmed and Chirag Suri restored the innings with the former, smashing 20 off 17, while Suri hit five boundaries in his 35-run knock.

    Both were sent back to the pavilion but Mohd Nael and Abdullah Pasha survived to seal victory in Dubai. Heriot-Watt will now test themselves against opposition from England, India, South Africa, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka in the fourth edition of the tournament.

    For Suri, former Under-19 UAE player, it is something that he and his team-mates cannot wait for. “As a university, it is a huge privilege for us to represent the UAE on a global platform,” said the 20-yearold batsman.

    “We are looking forward to the challenge of competing against other prominent institutions from around the world. We knew we had a really good side and we wouldn’t have been happy if we didn’t win the tournament.” 

    Suri, who missed out on the final UAE World Cup squad, insists his team-mates will relish the opportunity of taking on the world’s best in India.

    “The victory really meant a lot to us and that was shown by the way we celebrated after the match,” said Suri. “We are looking to put in a lot of practice before the tournament. We will try and play a lot of good cricket and hopefully put on a good show as the trip is key to our development as players and how we progress as individuals.”

    It was the first time the event was held in the UAE and Suri had nothing but praise for the concept.

    He added: “It was a very well organised tournament. It was great for the boys who hadn’t played in a big pressure tournament and we have learned a lot. For some of us, we didn’t get the opportunity to play against other university teams before so it was a really good experience for us.”

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