DAY 1: SAUDI ARABIA OUTCLASS CHINA AS TAM HITS A TON FOR THAILAND

Saudi Arabia are considered to be one of the favourites to win the ICC World Cricket League Division 1 Asia being held in Chiang Mai and they gave a dominant performance against China as they won by 390 runs at Gymkhana Club, but the most memorable performance of the day came from Wanchana Uisuk, Thailand’s left-handed opening batsman, who batted through the innings to score an unbeaten 115 against Bhutan at Prem as the host country beat Bhutan by 154 runs. Qatar were the third winners of the day as they beat Kuwait by 150 runs at Royals.
Saudi Arabia gave a batting master-class against China as they scored 418 in their fifty overs as their top-order shared out the runs on a perfect day. Shahbaz Rasheed made a run a ball fifty and Mohammad Afzal completed a century from 91 balls with 13 fours and two sixes but the real fireworks came from captain Shoaib Ali who took only 24 balls to reach his fifty and was dismissed for 91 from just 41 balls with 10 fours and six sixes.
It was a thrilling morning's cricket and the Chinese bowlers and fielders can take great credit for keeping going for so long when they were taking heavy punishment and they were rewarded as they bowled out Saudi Arabia from the last ball of the innings. A total of 418 all out in 50 overs is a rare event and Feng Yu had the remarkable figures of 5 for 89 in 10 overs as China took the last five wickets for just 20 runs.
China had little option but to try to bat for as long as possible as they had no realistic chance of victory but they came up against an impressive trio of bowlers. Ibrar ul Haq took 3 for eight in his 4 over spell with the new ball but the Saudi spinners really had the Chinese batsmen in trouble from the moment they came on to bowl.

Leg-spinner Imran Arif claimed three wickets for just two runs as he took two wickets in two balls in his fourth over, then next over off-spinner Shahbaz Rasheed finished the match off with a hat-trick as three Chinese tail-enders were beaten for pace and were all comprehensively bowled. Saudi Arabia have made an impressive start to the tournament as they look to gain promotion to WCL Division 5 but there will be sterner tests ahead against stronger teams.
Host country Thailand made a very encouraging start to the tournament as they beat Bhutan by 154 runs at Prem as they reached 235 for 3 in their 50 overs and dismissed Bhutan for 81. Hero of the day for the home side was Wanchana Uisuk who batted through the innings for 115*. He reached his fifty from 81 balls after Thailand had made a good start with an opening partnership of 63 completed a wonderful century from just 119 balls with nine fours and three sixes. Thailand were taken to a more than useful total by an unbeaten fourth-wicket partnership as former captain Ryan Raina made 68* from 83 balls to give Tam perfect support.
Thailand had struggled in the warm-up matches and had been beaten by Bhutan last Sunday but they had runs on the board for their bowlers to defend and Chanchai Pengkumta took the first wicket with his second ball as he had Tenzin Wangchuk lbw. Wanchana Uisuk followed his batting exploits with an impressive opening spell of one for 11 in six overs of left-arm swing and Sameer Gawas took two wickets with his nagging medium pace.
Thailand’s spinners did the rest as Noppon Senamontree took two for 22 and fellow left-armer Vichanath Singh went one better with three for 12 with off-spinner Ryan Raina also taking a wicket. Bhutan were dismissed for 81 in 31.5 overs and the Land of Smiles had a famous victory to celebrate.
Thailand’s captain Daniel Jacobs had spoken before the tournament of the rapid progress being made by the young Thai cricketers now they were able to play cricket on a regular basis with a full-time coach and the wonderful performance from Wanchana Uisuk had backed up his words perfectly.
Thailand can now compete against the other sides in the tournament with confidence but there are some impressive opponents to come including Qatar and Kuwait who met in the third match of the opening day at Royal Chiang Mai Golf Course. Qatar came out on top with a convincing victory by 150 runs.
Qatar have been in Chiang Mai for the last week as they prepared well for the tournament. They have looked a good batting side as two players reached centuries in the practice matches and it was no surprise that they reached 295 for 6 in their 50 overs against Kuwait.
Captain Iman-ul-Haq made 62 and Qalandar Khan hit 72 as they shared an opening partnership of 128, Tamoor Sajjad who had made 164* against Thailand on Thursday made a sedate 43* as wickets fell but Zaheer Ibrahim hit out brilliantly to make fifty in just 16 balls to take Qatar to an impressive total.
Kuwait started well in reply as Aamir Javed made 52 and shared a fifty partnership for the second wicket with Mohammad Irfan. Qatar also have a more than useful spin attack and Mohammad Nadeem is a tall left-arm spinner who gains sharp turn away from the right-handers. He ripped the heart out of the innings with three wickets before returning to claim the last wicket as he had figures of four for 10 to bowl out Kuwait for 145.
The first day of the competition had seen impressive victories for Saudi Arabia, Thailand and Qatar and the second day will see Thailand face Bahrain at Prem, Qatar play Bhutan at Gymkhana and Kuwait take on China at Royals.