The Mulpani ground in Nepal has proved to be unlucky for Bahrain as they have lost both the matches they played there. In today’s ACC Premier Cup match, Bahrain’s semi-final hopes were dashed by a dominant display by UAE.
Bahrain won the toss and opted to bat first. Bahrain’s batsmen came up short against the relentless bowling attack of UAE and were dismissed for 116 in 40.5 overs. Only skipper Haider Ali 23(49) and Ali Dawood 23*(47) managed to reach the twenties. Aayan Khan was the wrecker-in-chief for UAE with the ball, as he claimed four wickets for a mere six runs in his 10 overs.
Bahrain’s bowlers had a mammoth task of defending the low total, and they certainly put their best foot forward but today was just not their day as UAE chased down the target in 27.4 overs. Abdul Majid Abbasi, who has been a consistent wicket-taker for Bahrain in the tournament and is currently the fourth-highest wicket-taker (7 wickets), picked up two wickets. Alas, it was in vain as Vriitya Aravind and Muhammad Waseem forged an unbeaten partnership of 100 runs for the third wicket to steer UAE to victory.
UAE won the match by eight wickets with 134 balls remaining, extending their winning streak in the tournament. They are now at the summit of the points table with six points from four matches. Bahrain has closed out the tournament with 3 points from four matches.
Overall in the tournament, there were a couple of bright spots for Bahrain – Imran Javed’s scoring the fastest 50 (17 balls) so far in the tournament. He also has the second-highest individual strike rate for his 53 off 19 balls and is ranked fifth for the most number of sixes (7) so far. In addition, there is Abbasi ranking as a wicket-taker.
All things aside, one has to commend the skill and sheer determination of a team who doesn’t even have proper infrastructure and trains alongside their jobs to take on the best of the region and stand tall.
