Syed Mussarat Khalil

JEDDAH — Saudi Arabia recorded its second victory in the ICC World Twenty20 Asia Qualifier ‘A’ Championship by beating host Kuwait Tuesday.

Host Kuwait faced Saudi Arabia at Doha ground. Saudi Arabia won the toss and invited Kuwait to bat first. Kuwait struggled to make a good start and lost 3 wickets in 5 overs, posting only 10 runs. Albeit slow, Ali Zaheer and Ravija Sandaruwan started to build a partnership however it could only add 32 runs for the fourthth wicket as Ravija was picked up by Usman Ali on 17. Ali Zaheer (27 runs off 36 balls) was the top scorer as Kuwait was bundled out for 92 in 19.3 overs. Saudi got off to a flying start as the openers put together 50 runs in 5 overs. Saudi chased the target of 92 runs in 11.5 overs.

Man of the Match Usman Ali took 5 wickets for 23 runs in his 4 overs for Saudi.

In another match, Bahrain defeated UAE. (UAE 149 for 9. Bahrain 98-8).

Saudi Arab defeated Bahrain in its opening match by 7 wickets.

After winning the toss, Bahrain innings however never got going. Losing wickets at regular intervals it was all out for 106 off 19.5 overs. Khawar Abbas and Usman Ali picked up 7 wickets between them.

In reply, Saudi Arabia chased down the target for the loss of three wickets with 4.5 overs to spare. Khawar Abbas was adjudged the Man of the Match for his spell of 3-20.

Group A is comprised of six teams — Bahrain, Maldives, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates and Kuwait. — SG