Kuwait beat Bahrain by 128 runs

Manama : Bahrain were defeated by 128 runs against Kuwait in its fourth match and the fifth round of round-robin matches yesterday in the International Cricket Council (ICC) 2017 World Cricket League (WCL) Asia Region Division One in Chiang Mai, Thailand.

Batting first, Kuwait were dismissed for 228 in 44.5 overs with the main scorers being Ali Zaheer (78 off 72 deliveries, 6x4, 4x6), opener Mohammed Asghar (37 off 24, 3x4, 3x6) and man of the match Mohammed Amin (34 off 33, 3x4, 1x6). 

Highlights of the Kuwaiti innings were the 56-run sixth wicket partnership between Ali Zaheer and Imran Ali (13 off 25) which boosted the total from 162 for five to 218 for six in the 41st overs, while opener and man of the match Mohammed Asghar and Usman Waheed (17 off 48, 2x4) earlier put on 50 runs for the second wicket.

Bahrain’s wickets were taken by Babar Ali (three for 38) in 10 overs, Tahir Dar (two for 30) in 10, Mohammed Iqbal Noor (two for 37) in 9.5, Janaka Chaturanga (one for 35) in 8 and Jabbar Amjad (one for 42) in 4.

In reply, Bahrain were dismissed for a disappointing 100 in 33.1 overs as they never really got started in pursuit of the challenging total, with the top scorer being Mohammed Sameer (47 off 66, 5x4, 2x6), with the only other double figure scores coming from Gamini Arachchige (15 off 47, 1x4) and Janaka Chaturanga (10 off 3, 1x4, 1x6).

The only significant partnership was the third wicket worth 45 runs by Mohammed Sameer and Janaka Chaturanga as they moved the score along from 14 for two to 59 for three after 17.3 overs.

Kuwait’s wickets were claimed by Mohammed Asghar (four for 13) in 8, Haroon Shahid (three for 25) in 10, Sajid Manzil (two for 15) in 4 and Bastaki Fahad (one for none) off one delivery.

Bahrain prepared for this championship with five friendly matches in Sri Lanka, winning three and losing two, getting aclimatised and getting 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 Aziz, Gamini Arachchige, Imran Ali Butt, Janaka Chaturanga, Mohammed Rafeh, Aamar Shahzad, Mohammed Sameer, Mohammed Iqbal, Awad Khan, Bilal Mansoor and Jabbar Amjad. 

Other scores: 

1)Qatar 339 all out in 48.5 overs (Zaheer Ibrahim 80, Dharmang Patel 76, Kamran Khan 69; Feng Yu 6/77, Zhang Yu Fei 2/54) bt China 74 all out in 30.5 overs (Zhuang Yu Fei 19, Ge Yongsheng 16) by 265 runs. Man of the Match: Feng Yu. 

2)Saudi Arabia 98/4 in 17.4 overs (Ibrarul Haq 34no, Inayat Saeed 25; Damber Gurung 2/35, Suprit Pradhan 2/51) bt Bhutan 97 in 26.4 overs (Tenzin Wangchuk 21, Kumar Subba 17; Shaoib Ali 5/17, Hammad Saeed 2/18) by 6 wickets. Man of the Match: Shoaib Ali.

3)Standings (after five rounds): (played-won-lost-points): Saudi Arabia (4-4-0-8), Qatar (5-4-1-8), Kuwait (4-2-2-4), Thailand (4-2-2-4), Bahrain (4-2-2-4), Bhutan (4-1-3-2), China (5-0-5-0).

Today’s schedule: 

1)Bhutan vs Kuwait, 

2)China vs Bahrain, 

3)Thailand vs Saudi Arabia. 

Bye: Qatar.