ACC under-19 cup: Bahrain enter quarters

Kathmandu, November 13:

Gayan De Silva scored an unbeaten double century and Salman Sattar took eight wickets as Bahrain thrashed Brunei by 349 runs in a Group A match and entered the quarter-finals of the ACC Under-19 Cup cricket Tournament today.

Bahrain joined Group A winners Nepal in the quarter-finals. Others in the last eight are Kuwait, Qatar and Malaysia. The other teams will be decided on Monday.

Batting first after winning the toss at Institute of Engineering (IoE) grounds, Bahrain posted 383 runs losing four wickets in its allotted 50 overs — the highest score by any side in the tournament so far.

De Silva — who became the first batsman to score a double century in the Under-19 level — punished the inexperienced Brunei attack cracking 30 boundaries in his 140-ball 200. Mohd Danish Jasnaik remained unbeaten on 101 off just 78 balls, which included 15 hits to the ropes.

Bahrain had a bad start after the openers Zarak Ahmed (2) and Sundeep Sen (15) departed at the score of 29 runs, and lost No 3 Karan Kumar (11) at 69.

But De Silva — who came at the crease in the 11th over and reached the hundred in just 73 balls — added 82 runs for the fourth wicket with Naoman Ikram (17).

De Silva and Jasnaik further added unbroken 232 runs for the fifth wicket and put their team at comfortable position. Needed 16 runs to reach the double hundred, De Silva hit three fours and reached the 200 took two runs in the last ball.

In reply, Salman Sattar wrecked the Brunei innings with 8-15 off 9.2 overs as none of the batsmen reached the double figure mark and were packed for a paltry 34 runs in 19.2 overs. De Silva and Sattar were declared the joint winner of the man of the match award.

At TU Stadium, Thailand surprised Qatar by five wickets. Batting first after winning the toss, Qatar was bowled out for 115 runs in 45.1 overs.

Qamar Sadiq was the top-scorer with 34 runs, while opener Kamran Khan (17), Tamoor Sajjad (15) and Hassan Ali (16) were the other batsmen reaching the double figure mark.

Darshil Ali took three wickets, while Nopphon Senamontree took two for Thailand. In reply, Thailand overcame the target losing five wickets in 45.4 overs.

After losing opener Akshay Desai for nine runs, the other opener Sunil Nalinvilawan played patiently and scored an unbeaten half century to guide his team to victory. Nalinvilawan hit six fours in his 136-ball 52 and won the man of the match award. Nishahd Rego scored 13 runs while Darshil Shah remained unbeaten also on 13 runs.

At Tundikhel, Malaysia registered a 191-run victory over Maldives and topped Group D with three wins. Batting first, Malaysia accumulated 275 runs losing five wickets in 50 overs, riding on Mohammed Ariffin Ramily’s unbeaten 98.

Ramily — who hit seven fours in his 130-ball knock — shared a 185-run partnership with Darvin Muralitharan for the fourth wicket. Muralitharan scored 80 off 109 balls including four hits to the ropes. In reply, Darvin Muralitharan wrecked the Maldives innings and packed them at 84 runs in 29.4 overs.

Shafraz Jaleel (10), Iujaz Hafiz (2) and Ahmed Umar (10) were the only batsmen reaching the double figure mark. Muralitharan, who returned with 5-5 off 3.4 overs, was named the man of the match. Manrick Singh supported Muralitharan by taking 3-20 off seven overs.

At Birendra Sainik Awasiya Mahavidyalaya grounds, Kuwait topped the Group B with a 302-run thrashing over Iran. Habbibullah Iftikar (153) and Ali Raza (50) helped Kuwait score a massive 364 runs losing nine wickets in 50 overs.

Ali Asgar Chasteh and Aref Balooch took three wickets for Iran. In reply, Iran was all out for just 62 runs.

Today’s matches

• Singapore vs Oman @ TU Stadium

• Hong Kong vs Saudi Arabia @ Tundikhel

• Afghanistan vs UAE @ BSAM