ABU DHABI // The UAE will be hoping to finish off their ICC U19 World Cup campaign on a high tomorrow when they meet Zimbabwe in the 11th and 12th place position play-off.
After a resounding win over Scotland on Sunday, the UAE went down to New Zealand by five wickets and nearly 20 overs to spare in yesterday's Plate semi-final at the Zayed Cricket stadium.
The UAE batting never came on terms against the New Zealand attack for the second time in the competition. They were shot out for 140 having made 169 in their first meeting in the group stage.
Coach Aaqib Javed was "satisfied" with the UAE cricket team's work against a Test playing nation.
“There is no comparison between the two teams although I would have expected a slightly better performance, particularly in the batting department,” he said.
“We can still go out of this competition with the satisfaction of having finished as the second best among the Associates (behind Afghanistan) after being drawn against three Test playing nations in the group stage.”
The UAE was sent in to bat first and lost wickets at regular intervals after a 26-run partnership in 53 balls between Shiv Mehra (14) and Dan D’Souza (9).
Moaaz Qazi (21) and Omer Mohammed (19) added 36 for the eighth wicket before both departed within eight deliveries.
“The mood is still positive and we try to keep it positive with one more game left to play,” D’Souza said.
“It has been a big learning experience for all of us playing against some of the best players in the age group.
“We are learning from them how we should go about things on and off the pitch. We can definitely take a leaf out of their book.”
apassela@thenational.ae
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