Pakistan U-19 have defeated UAE U-19 in this virtual qualifier game and have advanced to the semi-final of the U-19 Asia Cup. In this must win game, they kept their nerves and got a victory by a margin of 70 runs to be the second team after India U-19 to qualify from this group. Now they will come again for the semi-final on Friday.
For now, this is Saptak Sanyal signing off on behalf of my co-commentator Manan Mehta and the scorer/analyst of this game Asraj Khan.
Farhan Yousaf (Pakistan U-19 Captain): "Management backed us before the game and said we can win. There was no pressure on us and we emerged victorious. Batters need to get a good start. I believe in my batters and once they get a good start they will make big scores.
Subhan has played for Pakistan. He helped us today as well and in the match against India. At no point did I panic because my bowlers brought me back into the game.
Yes, we need to work on the batting collapses going forward. However, the management and I both trust the batting and hopefully we'll do well in the upcoming games."
Yayin Rai (UAE U-19 Captain): "I think we played really good cricket in the first half of the match and we were doing pretty well till the midway of the second innings. We made a few mistakes in the next half of the game, a few runs outs and ya.
It is just about how we handle pressure. I think we didn't do well there.
Yes the team has done well together. We did well in the premier cup and as well as in the Asia cup. We worked very hard but this is a indication that we have to work harder. Hopefully we will get the results next year."
Abdul Subhan (POTM): "Feeling very good to contribute for the team. The team required me to perform and was happy to do well. On a pitch like this, we should bowl in the right areas. Probably a little fuller.
Yes, they had a good partnership, but the team fought back well. We inflicted two runouts as well and that helped too. We made a great comeback as a team."
Player of the Match: Abdul Subhan
Time for the Post-match presentations...
6:05 PM IST and 4:35 PM Local Time : Pakistan U-19 have won a tense battle against UAE U-19. UAE crumbled under pressure and lost last 7 wickets in just 29 runs to lose this game by a massive margin of 70 runs. They have qualified for the semi-final of this year's U-19 Asia Cup.
Earlier in the game, Pakistan U-19 elected to bat first after winning the toss. They got off to a steady start as Usman Khan and Sameer Minhas added 42 runs for the first wicket. But Usman Khan (21) got out and they lost Ali Hassan Baloch. Sameer Minhas and Ahmed Hussain then registered a 39-run stand before Minhas got out for 44. Ahmed Hussain top scored for Pakistan. He played 91 balls in a calm and composed manner to score 65 hitting 4 boundaries.
Pakistan lower order made a good contribution. Hamza Zahoor added 42 runs beside his name and his innings propelled Pakistan to go past the 240-run mark and they finished with 241/9. Farhan Yousaf, Huzaifa Ahsan and Abdul Subhan made a few useful contributions with the bat.
For UAE U-19, Yug Sharma took 3 wickets for 52 runs. Naseem Khan took 2 wickets for 27 runs.
When UAE came to bat, they were off to a mixed start. Some elegant strokes took them off to a steady start and it was aided by a few streaky shots too. Ayaan Misbah was the star of the show in the first half of the run chase. Misbah lost Yayin Rai and Zainullah Rehmani cheaply but batted well with Prithvi Madhu. Misbah's regular boundaries kept the scorebord ticking but he was dismissed by run out. He top scored in this game scoring 77 from 74 balls hitting 12 fours.
After Misbah's departure, it was Pakistan's dominance. UAE were on 142/3 when Rayan Khan and Prithvi Madhu were batting and then they started losing the plot. Rayan gave a simple catch to long-on and Madhu upper cut a short ball to Subhan at deep third on his personal score of 27. The lower order batters failed to make impact with the bat and a few misunderstandings cost them the game. Eventually they were bundled out for 171.
For Pakistan U-19, Abdul Subhan took 4 wickets for 31 runs. Momin Qamar, Mohammad Sayyam and Ahmed Hussain took one wicket each.