Saudi Arabia retain ACC Men's Challenger Cup

Saudi Arabia proved the age-old adage that players that often play as a team often end up on the winning side true as the west Asian nation cruised to a five-wicket victory over Cambodia in the final of the ACC Men’s Challenger Cup 2024 at the TerdThai Cricket Ground in Bangkok on Sunday (February 11, 2024).

The win helped the Saudis retain the title they won last time too.

The Cambodians made 147/5 in 20 overs but it was captain Lugman Butt, who took them this far single-handedly with 53-ball 80 (10x4s, 3x6s). They struggled in the first power-play stage, losing two wickets. Even after the power-play, things didn’t improve much as they moved to 66/4 in the 12th over.

Right-arm medium pace bowler Usman Najeeb and skipper Mohammed Hisham Sheikh took 2/34 and 2/25 respectively to emerge as the most successful bowlers for the Saudi Arabians.

The Saudis raced towards the target, starting on a very positive note. They were 37 in four overs although they lost three wickets. The idea was to make best use of the power-play overs.

Both the openers Abdul Waheed (17 off 10) and Faisal Khan (15 off 8) went after the bowlers. Three wickets in the space of nine balls then brought the need for a partnership.

No. 3 Waqar Ul Hassan (35 off 30 balls) and skipper Sheikh added 70 for the fourth wicket to put the team on track to victory. Abdul Manan Ali then blitzed to a 12-ball 26 to take the team home with 2.3 overs to spare. The Saudis ended at 151/5 in 17.3 overs.

Shaikh was adjudged the Player-of-the-Final for his all-round show.

Right-arm medium pacer Sharwan Godara (2/43) and left-arm spinner Utkarsh Jain (2/34) were the most successful bowlers for Cambodia. The two also ended as the leading wicket-takers in the tournament with 12 scalps each.

Cambodia’s Butt ended as the most successful batsman of the tournament, amassing 245 runs.

Singapore finish third

In the third place play-off, Singapore defeated Japan by eight wickets.

Batting first, Japan romped to 215/3 in 20 overs. Captain and opener Kendel Kadowaki Fleming top-scored with 78 off 42 balls. Watara Miyauchi, batting at No. 3, made 50 off 39 balls. Saboarish Ravinchandran hit 41 off 19 balls and Ibrahim Takahashi 39 off 19 balls.

In response, the Singaporeans scaled the target in 19.2 overs. Skipper Aritra Dutta hammered 122 off 63 balls (15x4s, 7x6s) and Surendran Chandramohan remained unbeaten on 57 off 31 balls. The Southeast Asian country scored at a rate of 11.17. Dutta is tournament’s second leading run-getter with 223.

T20, Cricket, Saudi Arabia, Asian Cricket Council, Cambodia, Singapore, Japan