The UAE secured a morale boosting victory ahead of their opening game in the ICC Under-19 Cricket World Cup as they secured a comfortable six-wicket victory over Zimbabwe at the Sevens Stadium in Dubai.

Having been thrashed in their first warm-up game by Pakistan on Monday, the UAE bounced back in superb style as they prepare for their opening match against England on Friday 14 February.

After winning the toss, UAE decided to field first and were immediately rewarded for their choice as Zimbabwe’s opening batsmen fell in the first two overs.

It would only get worse for Zimbabwe as they were eventually bowled out for just 100 in 39 overs, with only Charles Kunje providing any resistance in his gritty knock of 36 from 100 balls.

Having lost by ten wickets against Pakistan, the UAE batsmen would hardly have been full of confidence but Shorye Chopra (37) and Chirag Suri (22) laid the foundations for a relatively straight forward run chase.

It was a horror start to the day for Zimbabwe who lost opener Joylord Gumbie (1) and Tarasai Musakanda (3) with just six runs on the board. Tinashe Kaunhukamwe came was the next batsman at the crease but he also fell prey to UAE’s in-form bowling attack as he made just six runs.

Kunje was the only batsman managing to provide some resistance but once he was cleverly stumped by wicketkeeper Shivank Vijaykumar off the bowling of Moaaz Qazi the rest of the team were soon following him back to the pavilion.

Luke Jongwe would add 18 to the total but in the end the third top run scorer for Zimbabwe came in the extras column as the UAE gave away 11 runs with some ill disciplined bowling.

However, coach Aaqib Zaved will surely have been happy with Qazi and Justin James who both picked up three wickets each, with Qazi giving away only 13 runs from his 7 overs.

Even though it was a low target, Zimbabwe may have felt they were in the game when Suri was forced to retire hurt after Shivank Vijayakumar had earlier been dismissed for just seven.

But any hope was soon extinguished with Chopra scoring 37 from 53 balls and Omer Mohammed helping the UAE get over the line with some 20 overs to spare.

Next up for the UAE will be a tough test against England on Friday at the Zayed Cricket Stadium in Abu Dhabi, but batsman Dan D'Souza is hopeful that they can put up a good showing against one of the favourites to win the tournament. 

“It was a satisfying win and was really needed after the first warm-up game,” said D’Souza Hopefully we will be able to take this type of performance into the next game against England.”