United Arab Emirates 127 for 9 (Smith 25, Musinguzi 3-21, Baguma 3-29) beat Uganda 123 all out (Lutaaya 25, Shetty 4-29) by one wicket
A 12-run last-wicket partnership took UAE over the line in a tense contest against Uganda in the first Plate quarter-final in Port of Spain. Legspinner Adhitya Shetty played a crucial role in the win. First, his legspin yielded figures of 4 for 29 to bowl Uganda out for 123. Then, he made an unbeaten 11 from No. 10 to take his side over the line.
Shetty was among the wickets early in the game when he got the first wicket of the day, dismissing Uganda opener Ronald Opio for 12. Nilansh Keswani struck from the other end, and the three wickets had reduced Uganda from 30 for no loss to 39 for 3. Ronald Lutaaya (25) and Uganda captain Pascal Murungi (23) then added 35 for the fourth wicket, but once Shetty broke the partnership, the rest of the wickets quickly followed. Shetty himself took two more, while Aayan Afzal Khan took two lower order wickets to set themselves a 124-run target.
A 43-run opening stand for between top-scorer Kai Smith (25) and Dhruv Parashar gave UAE a solid start in the chase, but Uganda spinners Joseph Baguma (3-29) and Matthew Musinguzi (3-21) ran through the UAE batting line-up to have them reeling at 82 for 7. Aayan, the No. 9, scored a 38-ball 22 to take UAE closer to the target, but when the ninth wicket fell, the side was still nine runs away from victory. However, Shetty and Jash Giyanani (4*) held on to pip Uganda in a low-scoring thriller.
Ireland 179 all out (le Roux 83*, Gibson 3-36) beat Canada 85 all out (Wilson 3-18, Forbes 2-2, McGuire 2-13) by 94 runs
In another low-scoring match, Ireland successfully defended 179 against Canada, with Philippus le Roux being the standout batter.
Le Roux made an unbeaten 83 in 107 balls for Ireland, a clear outlier in the match where the second-highest score from either team was 25. His innings of 12 fours lifted Ireland to 179, after which a combined Irish bowling performance left Canada all out for a sub-100 score.
Ireland seamer Reuben Wilson pegged Canada back early in the chase when he dismissed both openers cheaply. Liam Doherty then reduced Canada to 12 for 3, and by the time Nathan McGuire removed Gurnek Johal Singh, Canada were 41 for 5. Kairav Sharma displayed brief resistance in his 30-ball stay of 19 but two wickets for Jamie Forbes and Wilson's third scalp ended Canada's innings on 85 in the 30th over.
Le Roux, the Ireland No. 5, walked in at 34 for 3 in the first innings and stayed unbeaten right till the end. He put on 33 with the captain Tim Tector for the fourth wicket, but a flurry of wickets at the other end had Ireland struggling at 90 for 7. However, a 48-run eighth-wicket stand between le Roux and Forbes (25) took Ireland closer to 140, and a 37-run ninth-wicket stand with Muzamil Sherzad (13) took Ireland to 179.