Academy League set for semis playoffs

dubai — The top four teams are set to meet in the playoffs for the title in the Emirates Cricket Board’s inaugural UAE U17 Academy Cricket League, during April this year.

G-Force Cricket Academy will take on GM Academy while Zayed Academy, Abu Dhabi host Young Talents Cricket Academy in the respective semifinals of the inaugural UAE U17 Academy Cricket League on April 22.

G-Force topped with nine wins out of 11 matches while Zayed Academy came in second in the 30-over tournament held over a 6-month period with academies hosting their home games on turf pitches.

During the season, high quality cricket has been seen with exceptional individual performances.

On the batting front, two of the standout performers were Krishna Lakhani of G-Force Academy and Shifran Mulla from Maxtalent, both scoring a total of 444 runs.

Krishna, the captain and opening batsman of G-Force, scored centuries in consecutive weeks in the competition and led his team’s batting efforts. He also represented the UAE U19 team last year in the U19 World Cup qualifiers.

In the league’s bowling there were three joint top wicket takers in Karthik Meiyappan (Zayed Academy), Owais Sajid (DesertCubs Cricket Academy) and Zuhaib Zubair (Sharjah Cricket Academy) taking 19 scalps each with Karthik Meiyappan, last year’s UAE U19 leg spinner, having the best average per wicket.

Looking ahead, the InterEmirates tournament is planned for April and will run in two age groups, U16 and U19. These 50-over tournaments will feature the best age group players in a four-team competition.

UAE’s U19 team will play in a 50-over qualifying tournament during September and October, in Kuwait, featuring 9 countries with teams vying for qualification to play in the U19 Asia Cup. The U19 Asia Cup will be played in November and will feature the U19 National teams from India, Sri Lanka, Pakistan, Bangladesh and 4 qualifying teams.

UAE’s U16 team will be playing in an Asian Cricket Council 30-over event in Doha this October and will play against 9 West Asia regional teams.