Day 16 Talking Points - UAE demolish Ireland to win Plate final in style; Pakistan and West Indies show their class

Elsewhere there were morale-boosting wins for Pakistan and West Indies in the positional playoffs. Here are the big talking points from Day 16 of the tournament.

PLATE FINAL

UAE BEAT IRELAND BY EIGHT WICKETS

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Spinners weave their magic

All-but one of Ireland’s wickets fell to spin as UAE’s dangerous collection of spinners wove their magic in Port of Spain.

The UAE spinners have enjoyed themselves on the turning tracks in the Caribbean, and put in another collectively excellent performance to win their side the Plate.

Jash Giyanani (2/12), Adhitya Shetty (2/33), Aayan Afzal Khan (1/21) and Dhruv Parashar (2/15) were all amongst the wickets as Ireland struggled their way to 122 off 45.3 overs, scoring at under three runs per over.

Jack Dickson finishes tournament on a high

Ireland will be disappointed to have missed out on the Plate title, but the form of opener Jack Dickson is encouraging for the future.

The wicketkeeper-batter followed up his unbeaten 78 in the semi-final with a hard-fought 40 while wickets tumbled around him.

His 40 runs made him Ireland’s top-scorer on the day, and showed enough quality and grit to suggest he has a future at international level.

Future’s bright for UAE cricket

To walk away from the ICC U19 Men’s Cricket World Cup with victory in the Plate final is a major boon for UAE cricket. And they were worthy winners of the knockout tournament involving all the third and fourth-placed sides from the group stage.

This UAE team had already shown an ability to build a big score in their victory over Canada in Group A, where they racked up 284/7 in 50 overs.

But it’s in the Plate where they have really stepped up, comfortably beating tournament hosts West Indies and final opponents Ireland to underline their quality.

With plenty of strength in the batting ranks and a number of dangerous spinners, this is a generation of UAE cricketers with a bright future.

SUPER LEAGUE PLAYOFF SEMI-FINAL

PAKISTAN BEAT BANGLADESH BY SIX WICKETS

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Pakistan deliver to set up Sri Lanka playoff

Pakistan’s professional and quality performance with both bat and ball has sealed a spot in the fifth-place playoff against Sri Lanka.

In an excellent match against the 2020 Champions, Pakistan delivered an all-round team performance in the team’s best showing of the tournament so far.

Awais Ali and Mehran Mumtaz were outstanding with the ball, both taking three wickets, and with Mumtaz’s coming for just 16 runs off ten overs.

And with the bat it was a collective effort in the chase, with Haseebullah Khan top-scoring (79) but all of the top four in the runs as Pakistan reached their target of 176 with 21 balls remaining.

Ariful Islam lights it up

Bangladesh’s defence of their U19 world title has not gone to plan, and they will now have to settle for a spot in the seventh-place playoff against South Africa on Thursday.

But the Tigers can take positives from the performance of their young allrounder Ariful Islam.

The right-hander only turned 17 in December, but he showed experience beyond his years to hold Bangladesh’s innings together as wickets fell around him.

Coming in at number five, Ariful put together a brilliant 100, scored off 119 balls with five fours and four sixes. Were it not for the youngster this could have been a much worse day for Bangladesh, and they’ll be looking for more from him against South Africa later in the week.

SUPER LEAGUE 11TH-PLACE PLAYOFF

WEST INDIES BEAT ZIMBABWE BY EIGHT WICKETS

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West Indies end home World Cup on a high

An 11th-place finish is not what the West Indies would have been targeting from their own tournament, but the hosts can take pride from an excellent showing in their final match of the World Cup.

Set a not-insignificant 257 to win, the Windies excelled with the bat, as Teddy Bishop (112*) and Kevin Wickham (104) put on 194 runs for the second wicket to leave their side in complete control of the chase.

It did get a little too close for comfort, with the rate slowing through the final 15 overs as Zimbabwe took the game into the final over, but the win does provide West Indies with reason for optimism for the future.

Bishop has looked a good player throughout the tournament, without clicking until his unbeaten 112 in Diego Martin.

And Wickham’s century comes alongside his 56 and 61* in the group stage to make him one of the World Cup’s most consistent run-scorers.

Bennett brothers do the damage again

Zimbabwe’s Brian and David Bennett have been the squad’s stars of the tournament. The all-rounder twins scored 62 and 77* respectively against the hosts, including a partnership of 102, to help their team up to 256/4.

And the Bennett brothers finish the World Cup campaign as comfortably their team’s top two run-scorers, with both amassing over 200 runs in the tournament, collectively scoring five half centuries (Brian with three and David with two).

They can bowl too, with David’s 3/25 against Scotland his solitary effort with the ball, and Brian being a regular part of the attack, taking four wickets and bowling tidily across the tournament.

Keep an eye on the 18-year-old Bennett brothers, their ceiling is extremely high.