Waqar helps UAE finish third

KATHMANDU, Feb 11: Mohammad Salar Waqar helped UAE defeat Qatar by three wickets in the third place playoff match of the ACC U-17 Elite Cup played at the Institute of Engineering Ground, Pulchowk on Wednesday. [break]



Waqar took six wickets to wrap up the Qatari innings for 133 in 31.2 overs after Qatar was well placed at 93/2 in 20 overs, with opener Faizan Ahmed hammering 54 off 69 with five fours and three sixes, having decided to bat first. He then topscored with 33 runs as UAE chased the target in 25.3 overs losing seven wickets.



Five of Waqar´s victims were bowled and the other trapped lbw as nine of the Qatari batsmen had their stumps shattered. Ameya Jayant Dighe took three wickets to support Waqar in the demolition act.



Qatari skipper Tamoor Sajjad hit 24 off 41 hitting five boundaries coming in to open as only No 5 Faisal Rauf (13 off 24) among the rest could reach double figures.



Chasing the moderate target, UAE looked in trouble after slumping to 17/3 but No 5 Bhargav Venkata Krishnan changed the momentum of the innings smashing a quick-fire 29 off 19 including six fours to wrest the initiative back from Qatar.



Daniyal Shakeel made 22 and Shaaz Ahmed made unbeaten 20 even as wickets kept falling at the other end to take UAE home with 87 balls to spare.



Sajjad took three wickets opening the bowling while Ali Ishtiaq took two for Qatar.



Likewise, Bahrain finished fifth in the tournament beating Hong Kong by five wickets in the playoff played at the TU Cricket Ground Wednesday.



Bahrain bowled Hong Kong out for 132 in 38.4 overs after it elected to bat first and then reached the target in 36 overs losing just five wickets.



Skipper Sameer Zulfiqar and Cyrus D´souza took three wickets each to wreck Hong Kong innings after it was comfortably placed at 90/1. Opener Mitchell Abernethy made a stroke-filled 48 off 70 hitting five fours and six while his partner Sharif Haider (11) and No 3 Sagar Chandra (15) also made useful contributions.



But the rest of the Hong Kong batsmen disappointed as Bahrain was given a moderate target which it managed to chase despite a disastrous start that saw it slump to 7/3 and then to 52/5.



No 5 D´souza made 60 off 92 with seven fours and added 81 runs with Sankarsh Suresh (20 off 53) for the unbeaten sixth wicket partnership to take Bahrain home.



Abernethy and Simandeep Singh took a couple of wickets each for Hong Kong to trouble Bahrain but did not receive support from others.

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