BANGKOK: Saudi Arabia seem certain of a place in the ACC T20 Challenger Cup semifinals after beating Bhutan by eight wickets in the second round of Group A matches in Bangkok on Saturday.
Bhutan batted first and started well, reaching 67 for 2 before collapsing and being bowled out for 89. The Greens chased down their 90-run target within 11 overs for the loss of just two wickets.
Saudi Arabia won the toss and elected to bowl to give a chance for their excellent bowling attack to test Bhutan’s batsmen. Bhutan had lost to Indonesia by 16 runs in their opening match.
Saudi Arabia’s Faisal Khan, who suffered a head injury against Cambodia, was sitting out, as was his replacement Imran Yousaf who took three wickets with his leg-spin in the same match.
Saudi Arabia secured a dominant victory, defeating Bhutan by 8 wickets, showcasing their strong performance on the field. The team displayed skill and precision, clinching the win with ease.#ACCMensChallengerCup #ACC pic.twitter.com/XEGfPub3V8
— AsianCricketCouncil (@ACCMedia1) February 3, 2024
Suprit Pradhan, who top scored for Bhutan against Indonesia, was promoted to open and tried to give his side a fast start, but the top order did not find it easy to score against Saudi’s opening pair, Ishtiaq Ahmad and Atif-ur-Rehman.
Waji-ul-Hassan, the fourth member of Saudi Arabia’s pace attack, struck with his first ball, and Hisham Shaikh caused further damage with his off-spin.
Bhutan would have been happy at reaching 67 for two, particularly with Ranjung Dorji hitting two lovely sixes, but wickets soon began to fall in a rush.
Usman Najeeb took the key wicket of Thinley Jamtsho but left-arm spinner Usman Khalid did most of the damage with four wickets in two overs.
Ahmad took the last two wickets to finish the innings at 89, and Saudi Arabia were looking for a fast victory, chasing 90 to win.
Manan Ali and wicket keeper Haseeb Ghafoor were promoted to open the innings and the runs quickly began to flow as the Greens reached 59 without loss in the six-over powerplay. Ali hit four fours and three sixes and Ghafoor supported him with a four and a six.
Saudi Arabia were 77 for no wicket after eight overs, before Ali fell for 40 from 19 balls. Four runs came off the ninth over as new batsman Zubair tried to find his feet, but he was run out in the next over.
Saudi Arabia could not quite claim the win inside 10 overs but Ghafoor saw them home by eight wickets as they reached 93 for 2 in 11 overs.
With two outstanding victories and a vastly superior run rate to their closest contenders, Saudi Arabia are now all but assured of a place in the semi-finals.
