Dubai Cricket Council continued their dominance by clinching their third consecutive Under-16 UAE Cricket League title after defeating Ajman Cricket Council by 76 runs on Saturday.

Dubai went into the week-long competition as one of the favourites after winning the previous two editions, formerly known as ECB Inter-Emirate tournament, and they lived up to that tag with a convincing display at the ICC Academy.

They had to settle for 187-9 after Adithya Shetty top-scored with 31 in their 50 overs but Dubai defended their total following some impressive bowling performances. Shetty and Jash Jiyanant each took three wickets as Ajman batsmen were rattled to be all out for 111 in 41 overs.

Salman Farooq, coach of Dubai lauded his players for their fine efforts. “It was quite an impressive win for us and to retain the title for the third time is really special,” he said.

“It’s always good to unearth new talent and we really had to work hard to get this win. There were some strong sides and we really had to work hard.”

He added: “We had a great bunch of players and some who have been experienced members of the team who have played in previous editions of the tournament. We had new talented boys as well and took on the challenges really well.”

The tournament acts as a platform for the Emirates Cricket Board to identify potential players for their national team. And Farooq is confident a number of players will have caught the eye of the ECB selectors.

“We have a lot of good talent and even last year we had some players called up,” he said. “I’m sure a lot of boys will be noticed and hopefully can progress to the next stage.”