Pakistan crush UAE to qualify for U19 tri-series final

DUBAI: A combined team effort helped Pakistan to thump the United Arab Emirates (UAE) U19 by a huge margin of 191 runs in the fifth match of the U19 tri-series tournament at the ICC Cricket Academy Ground in Dubai on Friday.

The win also confirms Pakistan’s place in the final, scheduled against Afghanistan U19 on Tuesday, 26 November at the same venue. The match will begin at 09:30 AM local time.

This was Pakistan’s second successive win over UAE in the tournament, after beating them by 10 wickets in the opening match.

The Saad Baig-led side also defeated Afghanistan in their previous encounter by 13 runs but faced a defeat against Afghanistan earlier in the tournament.

After opting to bat first, Pakistan U19 scored 314 for five in 50 overs – their best score in the series.

The left-handed opening pair of Shahzaib Khan and Usman Khan continued their fine form, knitting a 96-run partnership for the first wicket.

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Usman (50) and Shahzaib (71) made fluent half-centuries. Following the duo’s departure, Farhan Yousaf (63) and Haroon Arshad (54) added 75 runs for the fourth wicket. Faham-ul-Haq chipped in with 37 off 48 balls, which included one four and two sixes.

For UAE, Noorullah Ayubi and Uddish Suri bagged two wickets apiece.

In turn, UAE were beset by a top-order collapse as they were reduced to 52 for five in 16 overs.

At that stage, Ayaan Misbah (17) and Suri (32*) added a 21-run partnership for the sixth wicket before Misbah got out to Umar Zaib in the 26th over.

UAE were eventually dismissed for 123 in the 37th over. Naveed Ahmed Khan led the bowling attack of Pakistan U19 with three wickets, while Umar ended up with figures of four for 51.

The last group match of the U19 tri-series will be played between Afghanistan and UAE on Sunday, 24 November.

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