Asian cricket: Bahrain face Saudi

Manama : Bahrain are set to take on one of the favourites Saudi Arabia this morning in the third round of round-robin matches of the International Cricket Council (ICC) 2017 World Cricket League (WCL) Asia Region Division One in Chiang Mai, Thailand.

The national team opened its campaign with a convincing 138-run win over Thailand on Sunday, while the Saudis also won its opener on Saturday with a crushing 390-run victory over China.

Bahrain prepared for this championship with five friendly matches in Sri Lanka, winning three and losing two and getting acclimatised and gettiing used to turf wickets.

Under head coach Rexie Arunvasagam and manager Syed Rizwan Shah, the squad 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 and 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.

Today’s schedule: 

1)Bahrain vs Saudi 

2)Bhutan vs China

3)Thailand vs Qatar