A crushing defeat to Hong Kong has left the UAE needing to win their two remaining games against Thailand and Oman to reach the last four of the ICC Under 19 World Cup Qualifier Asia Division 2.
They went down to Hong Kong by 61 runs at the Kinrara Oval in Kuala Lumpur on Day 2 of the competition on Tuesday.
Hong Kong appeared to be the better prepared after a pre-tournament camp in Sri Lanka followed by three warm-up games against the UAE, despite a 2-1 series defeat, in Dubai before travelling to Malaysia.
The UAE, chasing 220 for seven, were bowled out for 159 in 44 overs.
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The only bright spot in that inning was Jonathan Figy’s 67 off 99 balls while only two other batsmen, opener Aryan Lakra (31) and Mohammed Ali Mirza (15), managed to get into double figures.
The UAE lost Fahad Nawas to the very first ball he faced and Mirza fell while on 21 before Figy and Lakra did some repair work with a 51-run stand for the third wicket. The latter then became the first of the five victims of Jhatavedh Subramanyan, the left arm spinner.
Hong Kong recovered well from a couple of early Yodhin Punja blows, most notably through a 74-run stand for the third wicket between Waqas Khan (77) and Sarfaraz Khan (36) to post a challenging total for the UAE.
Punja got rid of both openers, getting one through the defence of Raag Kapur (2) and had Kabir Sodhi (6) trapped in front to leave Hong Kong on 29 for two. Karthik Meiyappan accounted for a third Hong Kong batsman when he had Subramanyan (26) falling leg before as Hong Kong moved to 69 for three.
Punja (2-38) and Meiyappan (1 for 34) were the only two to complete their quota of 10 overs as the UAE tried out eight bowlers. Fahad Nawaz returned with three for 32 from eight.
The UAE meet Thailand on Thursday and Oman the following day in Group B.
The top two will advance to the semi-finals. The winners of Division 2 will go into a four-team qualifier that also includes Afghanistan and Nepal in Sri Lanka in December.
Scores in brief:
Hong Kong 220 for 7 in 50 overs
(Waqas Khan 77, Sarfaraz Khan 36, Sher Saeed 34; Fahad Nawaz 3-32, Yodhin Punja 2-38)
UAE 159 all out in 44 overs
(Jonathan Figy 67, Aryan Lakra 31; Jhatavedh Subramanyan 5-25).
Man of the match: Waqas Khan of Hong Kong.
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