Passela's deadly seven-wicket spell sinks the Maldives

UAE off-spinner Bilal Passela produced a deadly spell of seven wickets from 11 deliveries, including a hat-trick, to wreck the Maldives in the Under-16 Asian Cricket Council (ACC) Challenge Cup at the Prem Oval ground in Chiang Mai, Thailand. Passela's bowling display is one of the best by a UAE player in an international tournament. After returning to the pavilion with figures of five overs, two maidens, four runs and seven wickets, his teammates wrapped him in the UAE flag. Speaking to Gulf News from Thailand, Passela said: "I focused on bowling at the right spots and was brilliantly backed by my teammates. I had three of my wickets through superb catches at silly point, another two catches at mid on and one stumped and another bowled." Passela is a Grade 11 student of the Cambridge High School in Abu Dhabi and has been consistently performing in inter school tournaments. "This is my best spell and I am so happy to produce such a performance especially after two disappointing matches. In fact, I was dropped for the previous match and so I was determined to do well in this match," he said. The Maldives were bowled out for just 49 runs in 21 overs. The UAE raced to victory in just 5.5 overs with the in-form opener Shiv Mehra cracking an unbeaten 22 and Abdullah Saif Al Baloushi hitting 19 runs. Skipper Karthik Shekar scored the winning run hitting a six over long on. "I am so happy with my performance that I am looking forward to producing more such spells. What made me most happy is that we have been able to win this match convincingly and it has bettered our chance to finish among the top two of the tournament," added Passela, who trains at the Zayed Cricket Academy in Abu Dhabi. The UAE's nine wicket victory over the Maldives has fetched them eight points and is likely to win a promotion to the ACC Under-16 Elite Division. It is also the UAE's fourth win in five matches.