Asia Cup 2018, Qualifiers- Day 1: Round-up

The 14th edition of the Asia Cup will commence from 15 September 2018. There will be six teams that will be participating in the tournament this year. India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, and Afghanistan are the five teams that will be making a direct entry into the event. However, for the sixth spot, there are six teams that are competing hard in Malaysia to make it into the prestigious tournament.

The top two teams out of these six teams will get into the final of the qualifier. The winner will be getting a chance to feature in the Asia Cup 2018. The first day of this qualifier games witnessed three games that were played with all the six teams getting a go. Here is how things progressed in these games:

Hong Kong vs Malaysia – Match 1

Hong Kong, after being put into bat first by Malaysia were all out for just 161 runs in 46.4 overs. Except for Babar Hayat, none of the other batsmen managed to pull up their socks and deliver for the team. Hayat scored 58 off 58 balls with six fours and three sixes. Wicket-keeper Scott McKechnie was the next highest scorer with 26 runs. Suharril Fetri and Pavandeep Singh picked three wickets each for Malaysia.

Although Malaysia struggled in the chase, they ensured that they did get across the line. Wicketkeeper Shafiq Sharif scored 49 runs off 63 balls and provided the team with a good start. Muhammad Syahadat and Syed Aziz with 23 and 25 runs respectively played important knocks towards the end and took Malaysia to victory by three wickets.

Brief Scores:

Hong Kong: 161/10 in 46.4 overs (Babar Hayat 58, Scott McKechnie 26, Pavandeep Singh 3/13)

Malaysia: 162/7 in 42.5 overs (Shafiq Sharif 49, Syed Aziz 25, Nadeem Ahmed 4/25)

Result: Malaysia won by three wickets

Nepal vs Oman – Match 2

Oman stunned the Nepal team in this game. Nepal was put into bat first but their batsmen couldn’t really deliver. A majority of their total was scored by just three men. Sagar Pun was the best in the innings with 83 runs off 84 balls. Gyanendra Malla and Aarif Sheikh scored 45 and 36 runs respectively as the team put up 221 runs on the board for the loss of nine wickets in 50 overs.

Oman batsmen were highly clinical in the chase. Their openers Aqib Ilyas (16 off 20 balls) and Jatinder Singh (30 off 67 balls) provided the side with a good start. No three batsmen Vaibhav Wategaonkar scored 41 runs while Khawar Ali scored 84 off 96 balls and was terrific with the bat. Oman reached the target in 48 overs and won the game by seven wickets. Sandeep Lamichhane went wicketless in this innings.

Brief Scores:

Nepal: 221/9 in 50 overs (Sagar Pun 83, Gyanendra Malla 45, Ajay Lalcheta 2/34)

Oman: 224/3 in 48 overs (Khawar Ali 84*, Zeeshan Maqsood 45*, Paras Khadka 1/24)

Result: Oman won by seven wickets

United Arab Emirates vs Singapore – Match 3

This game was reduced to 49 overs per side due to wet outfield. UAE, batting first in the innings put up a massive 312 runs on board for the loss of eight wickets. Chirag Suri was tremendous with the bat and scored 111 runs off 124 balls. His opening partner Ashfaq Ahmed piled on 64 runs while Shaiman Anwar scored a brisk 62-ball 75.

Singapore team collapsed like a pack of cards in the chase. They were all-out for just 97 runs and lost the game by a massive margin of 215 runs. Suryawanshi was unbeaten on 51 in the innings. Ahmed Raza was spitting fire with the ball in hand and accounted for 6 wickets in the innings.

Brief Scores:

United Arab Emirates: 312/8 in 49 overs (Chirag Suri 111, Shaiman Anwar 75, Amjad Mahboob 3/61)

Singapore: 97/10 in 25.4 overs (Suryawamshi 51*, Amjab Mahboob 17, Ahmed Raza 6/20)

Result: UAE won by 215 runs (Match reduced to 49 overs per side due to wet outfield)

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