Asian Town International Stadium witnessed a rare International bi-lateral cricket series between Qatar and Kuwait. The 3-match T20I series was nothing short of dramatic as the host’s managed to win the series 2-1 after two dramatic matches after the first game was won by Kuwait comfortably.
If the 2nd game, which went to a super-over did not satisfy fans appetite, the final game of the series put all craving to rest as Qatar chased down a 200+ total mounted by Kuwait in the most nail-biting scenario possible. The last ball of the match required Qatar to score a boundary, but Rizlan Muhammad smashed it for a six to spark celebrations across the ground and the home camp.
Qatar batsmen Mohamed Tanveer smashed 50 and skipper Tamoor Sajjad made a useful contribution of 37 runs, but is was Rizlan’s enterprising knock of 38 not out in the end, that made the difference. Ilyas picked up three wickets, and was the pick of the bowlers for Kuwait.
Kuwait, batting first, piled up a challenging 203/5 in their 20 overs with Ravija de Silva hammering 88 runs and got perfect support from Adnan Idrees, who got 80 to his name. Qatar bounced back in the fag end with Awais Malik taking two scalps and Inam-ul-Haq/Iqbal Chaudhry picking up a wicket each.
Qatar and Kuwait will travel to Singapore later this month to take part in ICC Men’s T20 World Cup Asia regional finals, where they will compete against Nepal, Malaysia and Singapore for the lone qualification spot into the global qualifiers in Oct/Nov 2019 in UAE.
For scores from the first two matches, click here.
Brief Scores:
Kuwait 203/5 in 20 overs (Ravija de Silva 88, Adnan Idrees 80, Awais 2/28, Inam ul Haq 1/19, Iqbal Hussain Chaudhury 1/33) lost to Qatar 206/7 in 20 overs (Mohamed Tanveer 50, Muhammad Rizlan 38 not out, Tamoor Sajjad 37, Kamran Khan 24, Ilyas Ahmed 3/37, Muhammad Kashif 1/22, Adnan Idrees 1/34) by 3 wickets
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