Dubai. Jonathan Figy’s unbeaten century and UAE skipper Aryan Lakra’s half century steered UAE to an emphatic eight-wicket over Canada in opening match of the ICC Under-19 World Cup at the at Bloemfontein ground in South Africa.
Figy cracked 102 off 101 balls with 13 boundaries and one six while Lakra scored 66 off 92 balls with four boundaries.
After winning the toss, UAE put Canada into bat and restricted them to 231 for 8 in 50 overs. Though Canada opener Mihir Patel hit 90 runs, UAE bowlers led by Sanchit Sharma with three wickets for 42, backed Aryan Lakra (2 for 39) and Chethiya Deshan (2 for 52) prevented Canada from posting a bigger total.
UAE began their chase confidently with Lakra and Vriitya Anand putting on 34 runs in 5.4 overs. Anand fell for 21 after he hit four boundaries. Lakra and Jonathan Figy put on a 149-run partnership for the second wicket.
After Lakra fell for 66 runs, Figy and Ansh Tandon took the team towards the target. Tandon hit an unbeaten 28 off 20 balls with five boundaries. They put on an unbeaten 49 runs for the third wicket to win the match with 68 balls to spare.
