Dubai: UAE under-19 captain Aryan Lakra, who steered the UAE into the ICC Under-19 Cricket World Cup with his sterling performance recently, has carried his form into the Asian Cricket Council (ACC) Western Region tournament which began on Friday in the UAE.
Lakra produced a deadly spell of six for 16 to bowl out Bahrain for 88 runs and help UAE record an emphatic nine-wicket win on Saturday at the Sevens Cricket Ground in their second match of tournament. In the first match on Friday, UAE had defeated Saudi Arabia by 173 runs at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium.
UAE bowlers ensured that none of Bahrain batsmen settled down. In Lakra’s six wickets for 18, he trapped two batsmen leg before and another two caught and bowled.
UAE raced to the target in just 17.5 overs. After UAE opener Anand Kumar fell for two, his partner Ashwan Valthapa went on to hit an unbeaten 35 runs off 47 balls and No. 3 batsman Mohammad Faraazuddin, hitting an unbeaten 47 of 57 balls.
Earlier, Saudi Arabia were restricted to 145 in 37.4 overs with Lakra shinning in this match too by taking two wickets, well backed by Mohammad Tahir and Palaniapan Meiyappan with two wickets each after UAE had piled up a whopping total of 318 for 6 in 50 overs. For UAE, Vriitya Aravind, who had also displayed top form in Kuala Lumpur, cracked 117 off 122 balls with 13 boundaries. He was well backed by Ansh Tandon with a knock of 52 off 47 balls with seven boundaries and a six.
