Tanish Suri guides UAE U19 to stunning win

By M. Shamil Amit 

Dubai, Dec. 11 (Daily Mirror) - Tanish Suri cracked a match winning 88 ball knock of 75 inclusive of four boundaries and three sixes to guide UAE U19 pull off a stunning two wicket win over fancied Sri Lanka U19 in the Asian Cricket Council U19 Asia Cup encounter played at the ICC Academy ground in Dubai.

Suri laid the foundation for UAE U19 chasing a modest victory target of 221 runs for victory when he associated in a valuable 57 runs stand for the third wicket with Ethan D’ Souza but his dismissal which was the fifth wicket to fall saw them in a spot of bother with the scoreboard on 146 for 5 in the 33rd over.  

But from here on skipper Aayan Afzal Khan with some sensible batting along with Maroof Merchant and Ammar Badami with whom he shared brief partnerships for the sixth and seventh wickets brought them closer to victory which they achieved with ten balls to spare.  

Earlier Sri Lanka U19 invited to take first lease of the wicket had an inauspicious start as they lost their first wicket with just three runs on the board. Skipper Sineth Jayawardena who followed came into the rescue of the side as shared two valuable partnerships first of 46 runs for the second wicket with Pulindu Perera followed by a 63 runs stand for the third wicket with Rusanda Gamage.  

Skipper Sineth was unfortunate to miss out on a half ton and his dismissal saw Sri Lanka U19 losing two quick wickets for the addition of ten runs as they slid to 122 for 5 in the 29th over.  

Later Dinura Kalupahana put in stiff resistance but was forced to see him losing wickets at the other end. Dinura found a reliable partner in Vishwa Lahiru with whom he shared a valuable 50 runs for the eighth wicket before being dismissed for 26 as Sri Lanka U19 ended their innings with a modest score of 220.  

Bangladesh U19 recorded their second win of the tournament when they recorded a convincing nine wicket win over debutants Japan U19 in another match of the same tournament played at the ICC Academy 2 ground in Dubai.  

Bangladesh U19 after bowling out the Japan U19 side for a low score of 99 runs was guided by Ashiqur Rahman Shibli who made and unbeaten 55 in only 45 balls which included eight boundaries and Jishan Alam who together laid the foundation with a fine opening wicket stand of 71 runs which paved the way for them to race to the target with ease in the 12th over.  

Tomorrow two matches are down for decision at the same venues with unbeaten Pakistan U19 meeting Afghanistan U19 and India U19 confronting Nepal U19.