Malaysia, UAE open U19 qualifiers with victory

Manama : Malaysia defeated Singapore by three wickets in the opening Group Amatch in Group A of the International Cricket Council (ICC) Under 19 Cricket World Cup Asia Qualifier Division 2 in the Malaysian capital Kuala Lumpur.

Batting first, Singapore were dismissed for 185 in 49 overs with U Aryaman Sunil (46) and Sean Agarwal (37) top scoring. Islah Sol of Malaysia picked three wickets for 33 runs.

In reply, Malaysia reached the target scoring 188 for seven in 47.5 overs with Virandeep (44) and Syed Aziz (33) top scoring and R Rohan (two for 38) the best of Singapore’s bowlers.

In Group B action, UAE were nine-wicket winners over Kuwait as the latter were bowled out for 48 in 21.5 overs as Abdul Tufail (12) was the only batsman reaching double figures, while Ethisham Saddique and Y Punya both recorded figures of three for 13.

The UAE reached the target scoring 49 for one in just nine overs thanks to unbeaten innings by Fahad Nawaz Choudhary (18) and Ali Mirza(18).

Meanwhile, Bahrain are set to take on hosts Malaysia today at 4.30am Bahrain time and Qatar play Singapore in Group A and in Group B, Hong Kong face UAE and Oman take on Thailand.

Bahrain is coached by Faustinus Branson Arulvasagam. The team is captained by Mohammed Avais with the rest of the squad comprising Rakshit Puppala,Mohammad Haris Khan, Himalaya Sanjay Rathod, Nikhil Malcom D’Souza, Lijo Jose, Mohammad Faisal, A Subhan, Muhammad Zain Tariq, Mohammad Waleed, Lakshman, Subhodip Karmakar, Jagan Vijaykumar, Anand AthreyaVeeraraghvan.