UAE coach Dom Telo has told his team they must “hit the ground running” when the Under-19 side open their 2018 Division Two World Cup qualifying campaign against Kuwait today.

The two sides begin their quest of reaching the showpiece event in New Zealand at Kelab Aman in Kuala Lumpur with the top two nations from the 10-team event advancing to the Division One competition in December.

Kuwait, Hong Kong and Thailand also make up Group B that will see the UAE play four 50-over matches in six days.

With the top two sides qualifying for the semi-finals, Telo is fully aware of the challenge ahead and has warned his troops cannot afford to get off to a slow start.

“The tournament is quite short in terms of length and the most  important thing is to hit the ground running,” said the former Derbyshire cricketer.

“We need to make sure we start really well and the boys know that. They will know what their roles are and what is required of them.”

The UAE go into the game on the back of a 2-1 series win over Hong Kong, despite losing the third and final match in Dubai on Friday.

Barring the blip, the South African was impressed with what he saw and is confident they can put on a good show.

“All in all, I’m happy with where we are at,” said the 30-year-old. “There was a hiccup in Friday’s loss but am happy it happened there rather at the tournament.

“They haven’t panicked when they are on the field and we have a really well-balanced squad.”