Low scoring matches are often the most intriguing ones as things can go pretty downhill for the chasing team once they start losing wickets. It was exactly the case for Uganda, aa they went down by only 12 runs, that too, chasing only 127 for victory.
A remarkable win from behind for Saudi Arabia in the first 50-overs match of their Easter tour as their own batting collapse let them down during the first half of the match. Only three of their players went beyond single digit scores in the entire innings and they failed to play the full quota of 50 overs. Uganda bowlers did a great job in restricting their opponents, only to be at the receiving end during the 2nd half of the match.
Saudi Arabia bowlers responded in a strong fashion as they kept picking up wickets at regular intervals and never let Uganda batters to forge a meaningful partnership, that would take them home to victory. The picture was almost similar to Saudi Arabia as only four Ugandan players registered double-digit scores in the innings.
A 12 runs margin defeat is not something Uganda were expecting and this should be a wake-up call, considering ICC WCL Division 4 is less than a month away in Malaysia and while the bowlers are doing a good job, they cannot rescue Uganda at all times if they intend to be in the final of Division 4 on May 05th, 2018.
Saudi Arabia, too, need to look seriously on their batting aspect, ahead of ICC Middle-East sub-regional qualifiers for WorldT20 in 2020. After narrowly missing out to Qatar on net run-rate for qualification for ICC WCL Division 5 through Asia region Division One, qualifying for the regional finals from Asia region for WorldT20 Global Qualifiers will be the utmost priority for the team and the management.
Brief Scores:
Saudi Arabia 126 all out in 40.1 overs (Sajid Cheema 32, Abu Huraira 23, Bilal Hassan 4/28, Henry Ssenyondo 3/26, Brian Masaba 2/5) beat Uganda 114 all out in 41.5 overs (Brian Masaba 33, Roger Mukasa 18, Muhammad Afzal 3/19, Imran Arif 2/24, Abu Huraira 1/34, Usman Ali 1/4, Samiullah Niazi 1/4) by 12 runs
