Abu Dhabi’s MCC-Zayed Cricket Academy (MZCA) ended their tour of the UK on a winning note by clinching a two-run thriller over Lancashire and brought home the Sussex County Cricket Club (SCCC) Sport Arabia U13 Tournament Plate Trophy.
The match had to be reduced to 20 overs after overnight rain left the outfield wet at SCCC Academy grounds in Blackstone.
Winning the toss and electing to bat first, the Abu Dhabi outfit could manage just 83-8 in the allotted 20 overs with Huzaifah Khan (20) the only player to reach double figures.
The next highest contributions from Aaryaman Gandotra (9), Karthik Palaniappan (9), Abhishek Prakash (8) and Ishmeet Singh (8) highlighted MZCA's woes with the bat.
In reply, the English side got off to a steady start and seemed headed to victory, with Ben Hemingway hitting a top score of 21. However, with Lancashire requiring only six runs to win, MZCA hit back.
The Lancashire batsmen had no answer to Palaniappan’s intelligent bowling.
Palaniappan conceded just four runs and took four wickets to deny the hosts victory, restricting Lancashire to 81-9 in their allotted 20 overs.
Also impressive with the ball were Ishmeet Singh, who finished with figures of 3/6, and strike bowlers Burhanullah Hussaini (2/3) and Sohail Halim (1/6).
Following the end of the UK tour, where the MZCA played five matches against under-13 teams, captain Prakash topped the batting averages with 97 runs with Huzaifah (73) in second place.
Both players had previously toured Sri Lanka with the academy’s U16 team before joining the UK tour squad.
Vice-captain Mohammed Azz-an, who missed the final as he was down with flu, was the leading wicket-taker with eight scalps while Ishmeet and Palaniappan took seven wickets each.