Bahrain sign off with win

Manama : Bahrain easily beat Bhutan by 55 runs, as Qatar upset the favourites Saudi Arabia winning by five wickets and promotion after the seventh and final round of round-robin matches yesterday in the International Cricket Council (ICC) 2017 World Cricket League (WCL) Asia Region Division One qualifiers concluded in Chiang Mai, Thailand.

Batting first, Bahrain were dismissed for 154 in 43.2 overs after slumping at one stage to 39 for six, with openers Imran Ali Butt (0) and Mohammed Sameer (19 off 16 deliveries, 1x4, 2x6), the first to go,followed rapidly by the skipper Azeem Ul Haq (0), Janaka Chaturanga(9), Gamini Arachchige (1) and Mohammed Rafeh (4).

It needed a 57-run seventh wicket partnership by veteran 42-year old and man of the match Tahir Dar (68 off 93, 6x4, 4x4)  and Mohammed Safdar (9) to get the score to 96 for seven after 24.5 overs and add some respectability to the innings, which was followed by an eighth wicket partnership of 40 runs by Dar and Junaid Aziz (27 off 64, 2x4, 1x6) boosting the total to 136 in the 38th over, with Aziz the last man out.

Bhutan’s key bowler was Thinley Jamtsho (six for 38) in 10 overs and the other wickets were picked up by Kumar Subba (two for 14) in 6.2 and Tobden Singye (one for 23) in 2 and Suprit Pradhan (one for 27) in 10.

In reply, Bhutan were dismissed for 99 in 42.3 overs after suffering a disastrous start with Bilal Mansoor (three for 12) in eight overs bowling out both Kumar Subba and Tenzin Wangchuk without scoring.

A third wicket partnership of 56 runs boosted the Bhutanese hopes thanks to Thinley Jamtsho (42 off 51, 4x4, 2x6) and Kencho Norbu (11 off 61), but once Jamtsho was gone the rest of the innings crumbled, despite late resistance by tailenders Tenzin Wangchuk jnr (14 off 26, 1x4) and Kishen Ghalley (11 not out off 49, 1x4).

Bahrain other wicket takers were Tahir Dar (three for 16) in 10, Babar Ali (two for 25) in 10, Gamini Arachchige (one for seven) in 5 and Junaid Aziz (one for eight in 2.3).

The Bahrain campaign also included wins against Thailand, Qatar and China and losses to Saudi Arabia and Kuwait.

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.

Bahrain’s squad comprised head coach Rexie Arunvasagam and manager Syed Rizwan Shah, captain, Azeem Ul Haq, Tahir Dar, Babar Ali, Junaid Aziz, Gamini Arachchige, Imran Ali Butt, Janaka Chaturanga, Mohammed Rafeh, Mohammed Sameer, Mohammed Iqbal Noor, Awad Khan, Bilal Mansoor, Jabbar Amjad and Mohammed Safdar.

Meanwhile, in the other two matches Qatar upset Saudi Arabia by five wickets in the crunch match between the two sides vying for promotion and Thailand beat Kuwait by seven wickets.

Qatar qualified from Asia to the ICC WCL Division 5 which will be staged this September in South Africa as one of the five regional qualifiers, the others are Vanuatu (East Asia Pacific), Ghana (Africa), Cayman Islands (Americas) and the winner of a European qualifier next month hosted by the Netherlands, featuring, Austria, Belgium, France, Germany, Norway and Sweden.

The regional qualifiers will be joined by Italy and Jersey relegated from Division 4 and Guernsey who stayed in Division 5.

Other scores: 

1)Qatar 96/5 in 18.1 overs (Tamoor Sajjad 28no, Zaheer Ibrahim 25, Dharmang Patel 15no; Ibrarul Haq 3/26, Imran Arif 2/30) bt Saudi Arabia 94/10 in 43.3 overs (Mohsin Shabbar 23, Mohammed Afzal 22, Inayat Saeed 17; Inam Al Haq 3/10, Mohammed Nadeem 3/11, Mohammed Tanweer 2/11, Awais Malik 2/15) by 5 wickets. Man of the Match: Tamoor Sajjad. 

2)Thailand 99/3 in 27.4 overs (Mohammed Shafiqal Haque 43, Bunchuai Sombatraksa 26: Mohammed Asghar 2/9, Abdulla Ghulan 1/30) bt Kuwait (Haroon Shahid 25, Sajid Manzil 24, Abdulla Ghuloom 14no; Wanchana Uisuk 4/19, Kamron Senamontree 2/11, Sameer Gawas2/11) by 7 wickets. Man of the Match: Wanchana Uisuk

Final Standings (after seven rounds)

                               PLD     W     L         R/RATE      PTS

Qatar                       6          5       1         +2.665      10

Saudi Arabia           6          5       1         +2.472      10

Bahrain                   6          4       2         +0.652       8

Kuwait                    6          3       3         +0.676       6

Thailand                 6          2       4         +0.496       4

Bhutan                   6          1       5         -1.943        2

China                     6           0      6        -6.801         0