Bahrain defeat hosts in opening win

Manama : Bahrain defeated hosts Thailand by 138 runs in its opening match yesterday in the second round-robin matches of the International Cricket Council (ICC) 2017 World Cricket League (WCL) Division One in Chiang Mai, Thailand.

Batting first, Bahrain scored a massive 362 for four in its 50 overs with man of the match Janaka Chaturanga (110 off 91 deliveries, 7x4, 10x6) and Mohammed Sameer (108 off 102, 9x4, 4x6) leading the way to victory, with good contributions coming from the skipper Azeem Ul Haq (47), Tahir Dar (30 not out), Imran Ali Butt (25) and Junaid Aziz (18 not out), with Nopphon Senamontree (three for 70) the best of the bowlers.

In reply, Thailand were dismissed for 224 in 46.3 overs with the main scorers being Ryan Raina (71), Wanchana Uisek (38), Sameer Gawas (26) and Nopphon Senamontree (23), while Bahrain’s best bowlers were Tahir Dar (four for 21), Babar Ali (two for 21), Junaid Aziz (two for 36) and Jabbar Amjad (one for 47).

Bahrain had earlier played five matches in Sri Lanka prior to the championship to get acclimatised and get used to turf wickets.

Under head coach Rexie Arunvasagam and manager Syed Rizwan Shah, the squad comprises comprises the captain, Azeem Ul Haq, Tahir Dar, Babar Ali, Junaid Niazi, Gamini Perrera, Imran Butt, Janaka Chathuranga, Mohammed Ismail, Amir Gondal, Mohammed Sameer Fayaz, Mohammed Iqbal, Awad Khan, Bilal Mansoor, Jabbar Amjad,

The teams competing in the tournament are hosts Thailand, Bhutan, Bahrain, China, Kuwait, Qatar and Saudi Arabia, with the winner of the qualifier progressing to the ICC WCL Division 5 which will be staged in September 2017. Five regional qualifiers will play alongside two teams relegated from Division 4 and one team from Division 5.

This round of matches for Asia sees the seven teams play each other in a league with matches played on three grounds in the city of Chiang Mai in Northern Thailand. Each team will play a total of six matches spread over a 10 day period concluding on May 1 at Prem Tinsulanonda International School, Chiangmai Gymkhana and Royal Chiangmai Golf Club.

Other scores: 

Qatar 280/5 in 50 overs (Tamoor Sajjad 76, Zaheer Ibrahim 49, Iman Al Haq 37; Suprit Pradham 3/54, Damber Gurung 2/56) bt Bhutan 66 all out in 26.3 overs (Tenzin Wangchuk 14no, Tenzin Wangchuk 12, Damber Gurung 10; Mohammed Nadeem 3/17, Zaheer Ibrahim 2/3, Mohammed Awais 2/15) by 174 runs. 

Kuwait 460/7 in 50 overs (Aamir Javed 144, Usman Waheed 110, Ali Zaheer 65; Feng Yu 3/87) bt China 57 in 16.4 overs (Duckworth/Lewis method) (Ye Weiji 25; Haroon Shahid 8/19) by 293 runs.