Kuwait ride on Idrees show vs Saudi Arabia in Gulf Cricket T20I

Kuwait defeated Saudi Arabia by five wickets in the first match of the inaugural Gulf Cricket T20I Championship at the West End Park International Cricket Stadium in Doha on Friday evening.

Batting first, Saudi Arabia scored 142 for nine in 20 overs with 26-year-old opener Faisal Khan scoring 62 (42 balls). He shared a 73-run partnership with No. 3 batsman Saad Khan (23). Zain Ul Abidin scored 19 off 12 balls while Sarfraz Butt made 13 off 12 deliveries.

Kuwait skipper Mohammed Aslam, a left-arm spinner, took 2/25 in his four overs while off-spin bowling all-rounder Adnan Idrees took 2/17 in three overs.

The Saudi bowlers struggled to make early inroads in the Kuwaiti innings and eventually paid the price. Opener Ravija Sandurawan (58 off 41 balls) added 51 for the first wicket with Idrees (31 off 22 balls), and 64 for the second wicket with Meet Bhavsar (31 off 28 balls).

After Sandurawan’s dismissal, Kuwait lost a few wickets but the start was so good that the initial propulsion pushed them through to victory in 18.3 overs.

Saudi Arabia had won the toss and elected to bat.

Idrees, who bats right-handed, was the Player of the Match for his all-round show.

Besides Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Oman, Bahrain and United Arab Emirates are the other teams participating in the tournament.

The tournament is a round-robin event with the top two teams facing each other in the final, which will be played on September 23.

Brief scores: Saudi Arabia 142/9 in 20 overs (Faisal Khan 62, Saad Khan 23, Mohammed Aslam 2/25, Adnan Idrees 2/17) lost to Kuwait 143/5 in 18.3 overs (Ravija Sandurawan 58, Adnan Idrees 31, Meet Bhavsar 31) by five wickets.

Cricket, Gulf Cricket T20I, Doha, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia