Daily Times

Opener Shahzaib Khan continued his purple patch with the bat, recording his second successive century to guide Pakistan U19 to a comfortable 69-run victory over the United Arab Emirates U19 in a Group-A match of the ACC Men’s U19 Asia Cup at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium on Monday.

The UAE were also punished by No.3 batter Muhammad Riazullah, as Pakistan U19 amassed 314 for three in the allotted 50 overs after being sent into bat. Later in the afternoon, fast bowler Abdul Subhan delivered a player of the match performance, decimating the middle-order with exceptional figures of 10-0-57-6. His spell saw the home side collapse from 170 for three to finish at 245 for eight.

Shahzaib, who had scored 159 against India on Saturday, smashed 11 fours and six sixes in a 136-ball 132. Riazullah was equally impressive, hitting nine fours and three sixes in a well-crafted 91-ball 106.

Shahzaib and Riazullah put on 183 runs for the second wicket in just over 27 overs. Their partnership followed a strong 94-run opening stand between Shahzaib and Usman Khan (41). After Shahzaib was dismissed on the final delivery of the 46th over, Riazullah added 37 runs in the last four overs with Faham-ul-Haq (20 not out).

Chasing a stiff target, the UAE stumbled to 57 for three before Ethan D’Souza and Muhammad Rayan stitched together a 113-run partnership for the fourth wicket. However, Rayan’s departure at 170 marked the end of UAE’s resistance, as they eventually finished at 245 for eight. D’Souza, the seventh batter to be dismissed, scored a 102-ball 84 with 11 fours, while Rayan contributed 50 off 66 balls, including three sixes and one four.

The victory places Pakistan atop Group-A, followed by the UAE, India and Japan. In Group-B, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh have won two matches each, while Afghanistan and Nepal remain winless. The top two sides from each group will progress to the semifinals.

Pakistan will face Japan in their final league match on Wednesday at the Dubai International Sports Stadium.