KATHMANDU: Saudi Arabia’s national cricket team clinched their first win in the ACC Premier Cup 2023 in Nepal after defeating Qatar by seven wickets on Saturday.
The victory came after their opening match loss to Malaysia by eight wickets last Thursday. The win places Saudi Arabia in fourth place in the Group A standings after two rounds of matches, with Nepal leading the table with four points, followed by Malaysia and Oman with two points each. Qatar remains in the last spot with no points.
The Saudi team won the toss and chose to field first, restricting Qatar’s batsmen to a total of 216 runs before being bowled out. Mohammed Tanveer scored the most runs for Qatar with 46, followed by Kamran Khan with 36 and captain Mohammed Rizlan with 28. Ishtiaq Ahmad of Saudi Arabia had the best bowling spell with four wickets in 9.5 overs at the cost of 46 runs.
Saudi Arabia’s top-order batsmen reached the target of 220 in 34.2 overs, losing only three wickets. Abdul Waheed was the top scorer with 124 runs, followed by Waqar Ul-Hassan with 55, and captain Hisham Sheikh contributed 21 runs. Qatar’s Ikramullah Khan took two Saudi wickets for 28 runs in his five overs, while Khurram Shahzad took the other wicket for two runs.
Saudi Arabia’s emergence in Asian cricket circuit
The victory marks Saudi Arabia’s emergence in the Asian cricket circuit, as they won the ACC Men’s Challenger Cup in Thailand in February, qualifying for the ACC Men’s Premier Cup in Nepal, the second tier of the qualifier for the Asia Cup.
As they gear up to face Nepal on April 24 and Oman on April 26 in the remaining group-stage matches, Saudi captain Hisham Sheikh remains optimistic about their chances. “We have a great talent and we have the skillset. We will look into the scenario later on in the tournament. We don’t take any team easily,” he said.
Experts and cricket fans alike are excited about the talent and plans in place for the Saudi cricket scenario. Irish commentator Andrew Leonard said, “A number of other sports have seen heavy investment, and there is lots of talk that that is going to be the case for cricket going forward.”
The Saudi team is ranked 33rd in the World T20I rankings, with the ICC awarding T20I status to all member nations, leading to an increase in cricketing activity among associate members. Saudi Arabia’s government is also taking a positive approach to developing the game, further propelling its cricket forward.
The ACC Premier Cup, which began on April 18 and ends on May 1, is an integral part of the Asian Cricket Council’s (ACC) new pathway structure, acting as a last qualification stage for the 2023 Asia Cup to be played in Pakistan, itself a preparatory competition for the Cricket World Cup 2023 in India.
The 16th edition of the Asia Cup in September will be played by six teams, with the five full members of the ACC and the winners of the ACC Premier Cup.
