Gulf Cricket T20I: Mirza powers Qatar to one run win over Kuwait

Host Qatar cruised on left-arm spinner and right-handed batsman Adnan Mirza’s all-round show to score nail-biting one-run win over Kuwait in the inaugural Gulf Cricket T20I Championship at the West End Park International Cricket Stadium in Doha on Monday evening.

Mirza (30 off 23 balls), opening the innings, helped establish a 52-run partnership for the first wicket with Saqlain Arshad (32).

That platform was good enough for the Qataris to reach 156/3 in 20 overs as wicketkeeper-batsman Imal Liyanage (49 off 36 balls) and Muhammad Tanveer (39 off 35 balls) added 77 runs for the third wicket.

Kuwait, in response got off to a flying start, with Ravija Sandaruwan (42 off 29) starting on an aggressive note. He added 46 in just four overs with Adnan Idrees (13 off 10) for the first wicket and 26 with Meet Bhavsar (17) for the second wicket.

But Mirza, who got both Idrees and Bhavsar, had kept Qatar in the game. After Bhavsar’s dismissal, Kuwait lost track and were soon reduced to 90/6. A couple of cameos from Shiraz Khan (22 off 23) and Sayed Monib (22 off 11) and Parvindar Kumar’s 10-ball 19 got them back into the game. But they fell one run short and were all out for 155 in 20 overs.

Mirza was adjudged Player of the Match.

Kuwait are second in points table while Qatar are third.

Brief Scores: Qatar 156/3 in 20 overs (Imal Liyanage 49 not out, Muhammad Tanveer 39, Saqlain Arshad 32, Adnan Mirza 30, Shiraz Khan 2/17) beat Kuwait 155 all out in 20 overs (Ravija Sandaruwan 42, Shiraz Khan 22, Sayed Monib 22, Parvindar Kumar 19, Adnan Mirza 3/20, Himanshu Rathod 2/18, Muhammad Murad 2/31)  by one run.

Saudi Arabia lose to Bahrain

Saudi Arabia succumbed to their third successive defeat, the only team to be winless as of now, after they went down to Bahrain by six wickets in Doha on Monday night.

Batting first, Saudis struggled to 110 before being all out in 18.4 overs. Manan Ali top-scored with 49 off 37 balls with four fours and two sixes. Pace bowler Rizwan Butt, the Player of the Match, was the pick of the bowlers with 4/24.

In response, Bahrain reached the target of 111, finishing at 114, in 18.5 overs, losing just four wickets. Imran Ali Butt made 39 off 44 balls while Imran Anwar scored 21 off 21. Junaid Aziz made 39 towards the end.

Bahrain are in the penultimate fifth spot while Saudi Arabia are at the bottom.  

Brief Scores: Saudi Arabia 110 all out in 18.4 overs (Manan Ali 49, Rizwan Butt 4/24, Ali Dawood 2/16, Abdul Majid Abbasi 2/25) lost to Bahrain 114/4 in 18.5 overs (Imran Ali Butt 39 not out, Junaid Aziz 39, Imran Anwar 21)

Cricket, Gulf Cricket T20I, Kuwait, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, T20