While the United Arabic Emirates defeated Uganda by just one wicket in a close-fought low-scoring thriller, the Irish dominated Canada in the first set of Plate League Quarterfinals of the ICC U-19 World Cup 2022 on January 25.
In the first Plate League quarterfinal played at the Queen’s Park Oval in Trinidad & Tobago, Uganda were dismissed for just 123 and yet didn’t allow the UAE to win by more than a wicket.
It was a game for bowlers, where Adhitya Shetty (4/29), Nilansh Keswani (2/26) and Afzal Khan (2/7) were the stand-out performers for the UAE, while Joseph Baguma (3/29), Matthew Musinguzi (3/21) and Edwin Nuwagaba (2/14) bowled superbly in the second half to make it a contest for Uganda.
The difference perhaps was made on the batting front, with twenties from Kai Smith (25) and Aayan Afzal Khan (22)m allowing UAE to steer to the winning post at the loss of nine wickets. Earlier on, skipper Pascal Murungi (23) and Ronald Lutaaya (25) also made twenties from Uganda.
In the other Plate League quarterfinal, played at the Brian Lara Stadium, Ireland were able to secure victory over Canada by a margin of 94 runs despite posting only 179 runs in the first half. The full-member nation had their stutters against their former associate rivals but eventually came out on top.
This, thanks largely to a stand-out batting performance from Philippus le Roux, who, with his unbeaten 83 off 107 balls, almost singlehandedly gave Ireland something to bowl at. Only two other batters – Nathan McGuire (21) and Jamie Forbes (25) – made it past the 20-run mark through the innings.
Canada’s Ethan Gibson was the pick of the bowler for his team, taking 3 for 36. He was ably supported at the task by Parmveer Kharoud (2/33, Sheel Patel (2/25) and Kairav Sharma (2/40).
After an impressive bowling performance, however, the Canadians were let down massively by their batting unit, which got dismissed for just 85 in less than 30 overs.
Only two of their batters Gurnek Johal Singh (15) and Kairav Sharma (19) entered double digits against some class Ireland bowling, with Reuben Wilson (3/18) leading the pack.
