Bahrain’s second match in the ACC Men’s Premier Cup was against Kuwait at the Mulpani Ground in Nepal.
Kuwait won the toss and elected to bowl first. It wasn’t the best of starts as the opening batter Muhammad Younis was out for a duck after facing just seven balls. The innings only gathered pace after Fiaz Ahmed came to the crease and scored 48 runs in 54 balls including 4 fours and 2 sixes and built a partnership with captain Haider Ali who also steadied the innings with a swift 34 runs off 35 balls. However, Imran Anwer played the most vital role, scoring a quick half-century in 17 balls hitting two consecutive sixes. His knock was perhaps the fastest half-century of the tournament which he achieved with the help of 3 fours and 5 sixes. Bahrain eventually scored a respectable 255/7 at the end of 50 overs.
Kuwait’s innings were dominated by Yasin Patel who scored 63(89), Adnan Idrees 56(46) and Meet Bhavsar 54(59), scoring 258/8.
Our bowlers just fell short of the goal of getting the key wickets at the right time. However, Abdul Majid Abbasi who took three wickets was instrumental in getting rid of Kuwait’s top order, especially the two batsmen who scored half-centuries – Idrees and Bhavsar.
Kuwait reached their goal comfortably with 34 balls to spare, winning by two wickets.