Sharjah: Openers Ansh Tandon and Ronak Panoly cracked centuries to guide UAE to a mammoth 331-run win over Maldives and record their second victory in the Asian Cricket Council Under-16 Western Region at the Sharjah Cricket Stadium on Tuesday.
Tandon, who scored 49 in UAE’s eight-wicket win over Oman in their opening match at Eden Ajman on Monday, cracked 142 off 72 balls studded with 17 boundaries and seven sixes while Panoly, playing his first innings for UAE, scored 124 off 72 balls with 18 boundaries and three sixes. Together they put on 259 runs for the first wicket in 21.6 overs.
Speaking to Gulf News, Tandon, who won the second consecutive man of the match award, said: “It is indeed a great feeling to score a century and help UAE post a huge total. I had lost my half century by one run in the first match against Oman and hence I focused on scoring big in this game. I want to carry this form into the next game and keep scoring in the oncoming matches too.”
For Tandon, who has scored heavily in domestic cricket, it is not his highest score. “I had once hit 166 in a tour game in India but to get a century in international cricket is special,” he added.
For Panoly, who had hit a breezy 256 in domestic cricket in May last year, is delighted at scoring a century in his first knock for UAE. “Though I played in the first match against Oman, I did not get to bat so to get a century in my first knock for UAE in an international match is special. It was also a special feeling to bat with Ansh (Tandon) as he supported me very well to get to the three figure mark. I hope I can play many more such knocks for UAE,” said Panoly, who had cracked 133 last month for Cricket School of Excellence (CSE) Cricket Academy in the Emirates Cricket Board Under-17 inter-academy league.
Maldives had won the toss but elected to field. Skipper Aryan Lakra and A. Mohammad scored 16 runs each, while J. Yuvraj (37 not out) and Harsh Ashutosh (21 not out) swelled the total of UAE, who were put in to bat by Maldives. They added unbroken 62 for the seventh wicket.
Chasing the huge total, Maldives were bowled out for 61 in 25.2 overs with Ashutosh sparkling with the ball too taking three wickets for 15 runs.
Brief scores:
UAE bt Maldives by 331 runs. UAE 329 for 6 in 35 overs (Ansh Tandon 142, Ronak Panoly 124, J. Yuvraj 37 n.o., Harsh Ashutosh 21 n.o., Ishaau Ali Ilan 2 for 58, Mohammad Ahusan 2 for 87) Maldives 61 in 25.2 overs. (Harsh Ashutosh 3 for 15, Chathiya Dashan Huppegoda 2 for 9, Adithya Shetty 2 for 3).
Kuwait bt Bahrain by 167 runs. Kuwait: 249 for 6 in 35 overs (Gokul Sunil Kumar 38, Abdul Sadiq 50, Govind Sunil Kumar 56, Jandu Hamoud Amanullah 70; Umair Khalid 4 for 50). Bahrain: 82 in 28.1 overs (Jagan Vijayakumar 20, Thirumal Varnan 22; Naman Patel 4 for 15, Faez Ahmed 3 for 6, Abdul Sadiq 2 for 12).
