ABDUL WAHEED HITS 99 ON DAY OF RECORDS FOR SAUDI ARABIA

The first match in Group A of the ACC T20 Men’s Challenger Cup held at TCG in Bangkok was played between Saudi Arabia who were the winners of the ACC 50-over Men’s Challenger Cup on the same ground last year and Cambodia winners of the Qualifier competition and also SEA Games gold medallists. Cambodia won the toss and elected to field but it was Saudi Arabia who dominated the morning’s play as they won by 88 runs.

The Saudi Arabia innings got off to a dramatic start as Abdul Waheed hit his second ball for four but Faisal Khan was not so fortunate as his second ball crashed into his helmet as Sharwan Godara bowled a bouncer and Faisal was forced to retire hurt.

Abdul Waheed was undaunted by that nasty incident and hit a number of boundaries.  He was joined by Waqar-ul-Hasan who scored 141 runs without being dismissed in last year’s tournament and he was also finding the boundary.

But Waqar’s unbeaten run was ended as he was caught and bowled by Ram Sharan and Faisal Khan returned to the crease at the first opportunity and immediately hit a four to bring up the fifty from exactly six overs.

Faisal Khan hit the first six of the day but left-arm spinner Utkarsh Jain had his revenge by getting him stumped. Abdul Waheed was still going well as Saudi Arabia reached 84 for 2 in 10 overs.

Abdul Waheed reached his fifty from 37 balls and continued to build a big partnership for the third wicket with Waji-ul-Hassan. Waheed posted the highest score by a Saudi batsman in T20Is and saw his country past their highest total.

The partnership ended on 102 but Waheed was dismissed on 99 from 58 balls with 9 fours and 6 sixes as he tried for his 100th run. Saudi Arabia finished on 192 for 6 in 20 overs. Faisal Khan was feeling the effects of his injury and was substituted by Imran Yousaf as a concussion replacement.

Atif-ur-Rehman and Ishtiaq Ahmad demolished Bahrain for 26 the last time they bowled on this ground but it took five overs for them to claim their first wicket as Cambodia attempted their big target. They had reached 35 for 1 after six overs.

Cambodia lost their second wicket on 44 as Usman Najeeb dismissed Lakshit Gupta lbw for 24 and then bowled Lugman Butt for a duck with a beauty.

Cambodia had made a steady start but they had no answer to the fast bowling of Usman Najeeb who took three wickets to rip the heart out of the Cambodian innings and looks a good addition to an already impressive attack.

Imran Yousaf, the concussion replacement for Faisal Khan, is also a useful leg-spinner and he also claimed three wickets towards the end of the innings as Cambodia were bowled out for 104 in 19.3 overs. Saudi Arabia had won by 88 runs, their biggest victory in T20Is, and Abdul Waheed was named player of the match for making Saudi Arabia’s highest individual score.