UAE survived a dramatic batting collapse to edge past Uganda by one wicket and set up a clash with either host nation West Indies or Papua New Guinea in the next round.

Adhitya Shetty shone with the ball and held his nerve with the bat as United Arab Emirates recovered from a collapse to overcome Uganda by one wicket.

Shetty took four wickets to help dismiss the Baby Cricket Cranes for 123 and later saw his side home with the bat during a nail-biting finish in Port of Spain. Uganda opted to bat upon winning the toss and started cautiously, adding 30 for the opening wicket before Ronald Opio was trapped in front by Shetty in the 11thover.

The leg-spinner went on to claim Uganda skipper Pascal Murungi (23) among his other scalps, finishing with four for 29 from his 10 overs to keep the batting side in check. Ronald Lutaaya displayed resistance in his 25 but when he was run out, Uganda lost their final five wickets for the addition of just 38 runs – Aayan Afzal Khan mopping up the tail with two for seven.

UAE made a strong start to their pursuit of 124, Kai Smith hitting five boundaries in a fluent 25, and were almost halfway to their target in the 15th over for the loss of just Smith. But the pendulum swung in Uganda’s direction in the space of 14 balls as UAE fell from 61 for one to 62 for five.

Matthew Musinguzi and Joseph Baguma were the destroyers-in-chief and finished with three wickets apiece to set up a thrilling finish. Khan’s 22 and a patient 63-ball 15 from Soorya Sathish gave UAE hope but both fell to Edwin Nuwagaba to put Uganda back in the driving seat.

Enter Shetty, whose two boundaries included a superb drive over extra cover which brought the scores level – number 11 Jash Giyanani then swept to the mid-wicket fence to complete the job with 9.3 overs to spare.