Scores in brief: UAE 38 for 1 in 10.2 overs (Sachin Jha 19*) bt Thailand 37 all out in 17.1 overs (Ethisham Saddique 4-20, Yodhin Punja 3-8, Sushain Thapar 2-1)
Man of the match: Ethisham Saddique, UAE
The UAE’s chances of reaching the semi-finals look brighter after Oman suffered a shock defeat to Kuwait in the ICC Under-19 World Cup Qualifier Asia Division 2 in Kuala Lumpur on Thursday.
The UAE will advance with a win over Oman on Saturday, and they will also stand a chance of qualifying on a better run rate if three teams are tied on points in the 20-over format competition.
The results on Thursday took the UAE’s tally to four points from three games while Hong Kong are four from two and Oman two from two, turning Group B into a three-way contest for the top two spots.
The UAE enjoy the advantage of a superior run-rate in case the three teams are tied on points.
They raced past Kuwait in nine overs after bowling them out for 48 and took just over 10 overs in their chase of 37 against Thailand at the Royal Selangor Club in Kuala Lumpur. In between, they went down to Hong Kong by 61 runs.
Ethisham Saddique and Yodhin Punja, sharing the new ball, took seven wickets between them and Sushain Thapar grabbed two as Thailand were out in 17.1 overs.
Like in their first game against Kuwait, Thailand’s total could have been even less had the UAE bowlers not conceded 15 extras, of which 10 were wides or no-balls, the highest contributor to the total.
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