Gulf Asian Challengers under-13's advanced to the knock-out stages of the National School League with a 19 run victory over Ryanites.

Played at Skyline University College,  the winners maintained their unbeaten record of five games. 

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With star man and top scorer in the NSL Thasin Rahman (17 off 8) bowled out in the second over, captain Ansh Tondon (42* off 45) stepped up to deliver a sterling performance as Gulf Asian Challengers posted 103/4 at the end of the first innings. 

In response, Ryanites failed to meet the target and finished their fifteen overs on 84/4. Top scorers for Ryanites were captain Arnav Kambli (31 off 42) and Yuven Senthil (11 off 16). 

Gulf Asian Challengers coach Mujeeb Arakkal feels the hard work is only starting.

"We need to work on fielding. We've had a great run of form now to we'll be aiming to play well come the next game in January. 

In Friday's other fixture at Sharjah, Our Own Zenith qualified for the play-off stages of the competition with a 68 run win against Wesgreen Wolverines.

Our Own Zenith elected to bat first and posted 114/2 at the end of their 15 overs. Best for Zenith were Anirudh J. (34 off 35), Karthick Kumar (13* off 10) and nine-year-old Aayan Adzal (18 off 28).

Chasing 114 proved to be a difficult task for a resilient Wesgreen outfit. They tried hard but were unable to force a consistent run of scores. 

Some strong bowling from Mohammad Muhtaba (2-7) and Karthick Komar (4-10) restricted Wesgreen to 46/9.

Zenith ran out winners and now qualify for the play-offs alongisde PAK Hawks.

Coach Fostus Xavier said his team showed great confidence in the way they performed.

"If we play with that confidence it'll be hard to beat us," he said.

In Dubai under-13 Group 1, Deira Daredevils and Winchester Cobras progressed to the play-offs beating JSS Blitz and TMS Amateurs respectively. 

Deira elected to field first and Manan Shah's (4-12) superb exploits in the field restricted JSS Blitz to 91/6 at the end of the first innings.

Chasing 91, Deira's Gaurav Singh (34 off 38) and Andrew Williams (16* off 16) set the platform for the win. 

Meanwhile, Prithvi Venkatkrishna was the hero as Winchester Cobras beat TMS Amateurs by four wickets. 

TMS Amateurs elected to bat first and posted an impressive score of 102/0 at their end of the first innings. Top scorers for TMS were Macneil Hadley Noronha (58* off 48) and Trinabha Mucadam (24* off 33).

Winchester response was swift and elusive with Venkatkrishna (32 off 30), Kartikeya Chaturvedi (17 off 18) and Hassan Murad (18* off 13) amassing the runs to beat the target set by TMS.

Elsewhere, Jumeirah College Heat under-15's recorded their four win and in the process earned direct entry to the knock-out stages with a five wicket victory against JSS Blitz. Ashar Zuberi (30 from 23) and Arsh Bhasin (11* off 16) were impressive for the winners.

Group rivals WIS Warriors gained a place in the play-offs delivering a six wicket triumph over TMS Amateurs. Muhammad Shahdad (48* off 48) and Saahil Menon (38* off 40) sealed the win for the Warriors with an unbeaten 121/0 partnership.

For TMS Amteurs, Macneil Hadley Noronha (40 off 38) provided a level of resistance but WIS Warriors proved too strong in the end.