BAHRAIN AND MALDIVES START WITH WINS IN ACC CHALLENGER CUP

International cricket has returned to Bangkok and the opening day of the ACC Men’s Challenger Cup saw victories for Bahrain and Maldives as Bahrain defeated Bhutan by seven wickets at AIT and Maldives beat Iran by 27 runs at TCG.

Bhutan and Iran had their moments but Bahrain and Maldives look to be the two best sides in Group A of this eight team tournament which is effectively the first round of qualifying for the 50-over Asian Cup.

The match at AIT started in dramatic fashion as a wicket fell to the first ball as Rizwan Butt of Bahrain sent a ball crashing into the stumps of Bhutan’s Manoj Adhikari but Thinley Jamtsho hit early boundaries and he hit the first six of the match as he drove powerfully over the bowler’s head as Bhutan seemed to be recovering well as they were 40 for 1 after 10 overs.

But left-arm spinner Abdul Majid made a big impact at the start of his spell as he took a wicket first ball as Jamtsho was caught at slip for 29 from 34 balls. Opener Tenjin Rebgay had batted stoically but he skied Majid to be caught at short cover for 7 off 39 balls and Namgang Chejay didn’t last long as he hit Majid to mid-off to fall for nought. The magical Majid suddenly had three wickets for no runs from two maiden overs.

Bhutan declined to 54 for 6 after 17 overs as Veerapathiran claimed the next two wickets with the wicket-keeper taking two more catches and Rizwan Butt was brought back to claim the next two wickets at Bhutan were struggling on 79 for 8.

Ali Dawood took the ninth wicket with Bhutan still short of the century mark with  Rangung Dorji also being caught behind and it was Veerapathiran who took the final wicket to bowl out Bhutan for 104 in 32.2 overs. He finished with 3 for 15, Abdul Majid took 3 for 29 and Rizwan Butt claimed 3 for 25.

Bahrain started their reply before lunch with a target of just 105 but they lost an early wicket to left-arm spinner Sonam Yeshey who claimed the wicket of Shahbaz Badar lbw for 7. Bahrain’s score had reached 44 for 1 in 14 overs at lunch with Prasant Kurup on 15 and Junaid Aziz on 20.

Bahrain were looking comfortable as they passed the fifty mark with one wicket down and Jigme Singye came on to bowl his leg breaks and Junaid Aziz hit him for six just over long off’s head and followed with another six over long on as Bahrain reached 77 for 1 in 23 overs.

Prasant Kurup was out for 27 from 66 balls but he had helped Junaid Aziz add 64 for the second wicket as Bahrain were nearing their target and Junaid Aziz hit a four to bring up his fifty and raise the team hundred.

Fittingly he scored the winning run as Bahrain claimed victory by seven wickets as they reached the target of 105 with three wickets down in 30.3 overs. Junaid was named player of the match for his innings of 56 not out from 90 balls.

Maldives looked on course for a big score against Iran at TCG as they reached 69 for one in the first 10 overs with captain Adam Nashif hitting the ball cleanly as he made the first fifty of the tournament but once he was out for 58 from 40 balls seven wickets fell for 23 runs as the Iranian spinners bowled impressively.

Iran were now on top but the last two Maldives wickets took the score past 150 before off-spinner Zahed Afarin took his fifth wicket to end the innings on 157 and claim the excellent figures of 5 for 22 and leg-spinner Masood Jayese claimed 3 for 41.

Adam Nasif took three early wickets to reduce Iran to 33 for 3 after 10 overs but Iran fought hard throughout their innings as they attempted to bat out the 50 overs in pursuit of a target of 158 as Zahed Afarin hit 25.

Number ten Abdol Ebrahimipour also made Maldives wait for their victory as he reached 20 but the innings came to an end on 130 from 42.3 overs to give Maldives the win by 27 runs. Adam Nasif had an outstanding match by taking 4 for 22 after hitting a rapid fifty and Ibrahim Hassan finished things off with 4 for 27.

Iran had been competitive after Maldives had made a flying start but it was Maldives who joined Bahrain as winners on the first day of the ACC Men’s Challenger Cup.

Day 2 will see the teams in Group B playing for the first time with Thailand facing Myanmar at TCG and Saudi Arabia playing newcomers Indonesia at AIT.

 

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