Bahrain players and officials celebrate with the champions' trophy after securing a place in one of the global qualifiers, yesterday. Pictures: Abdul Basit / The Peninsula
Doha: It was a do or die game for both hosts Qatar and Bahrain in the Asia Qualifier Group A for the 2022 ICC T20 World Cup.
At the Asian Town Stadium yesterday, the home team made a heavy weather of the 127-run target. Though they clinched it by two wickets, it turned out to be in the end that they lost a few too many wickets.
It meant that Bahrain got the better of Qatar on the Net Run Rate and topped the five-team pool by 0.093 margin to qualify for one of the two global qualifiers to be held next year.
The last match of the group went according to Qatar’s plan. Musawar Shah and Muhammad Murad Khan bowled superbly and shared six scalps among them. After Kuwait struggled with six down at 62, skipper Mohammed Aslam and Shiraz Khan stabilised the innings a bit.
Aslam, who has been declared the Player of the Series for his all-round performance of 73 runs and 9 wickets, got out after adding 38 runs for the seventh wicket with Khan. This led to another slump and Kuwait could post only 126 for nine on the board.
Meet Bhavsar (25 off 17 with a four and two sixes) and Khan (25 off 27 with three fours) were the highest contributors.
On the other hand, Qatar had a hot start through Andri Berenger and Kamran Khan. The openers collected 61 runs in just 4.5 overs to set a perfect platform. But after Mohammed Rizlan was sent back five runs later and Berenger was dismissed by Khan for 37 at 81. His 16-ball knock contained two sixes and five hits to the rope.
The Berenger’s dismissal did not augur well and Qatar had a slump and they lost five more batsmen in a bid to step up the run-rate. Though they did emerge the winners, the efforts were not rewarded with a place in the upcoming global qualifiers.
Qatar’s Musawar Shah won the Player of the Match award for his impressive spell.
The title win means Bahrain will now play in the next year's Global Qualifiers along with 15 other teams for four slots in the 2022 T20 World Cup.
Bahrain captain Anasim Khan said: "Happy to qualify for the Australia event, we have been working hard for this moment for the last eight years, said. Yes, it was a touch and go moment, our destiny laid not in our hands but the team which were playing each other – Kuwait and Qatar, and in the end Qatar won the match but did not have the required run rate to qualify,” he added.
Qatar Cricket Association President Youssef Jaham Al Kuwari said: "The organisation of the event has been of top class and Qatar has once again shown that it is the sporting hub. I am sad that Qatar could not qualify. The boys gave their best but in the end, one team made and it was Bahrain. We wish Bahrain all the best for the event in Australia."
Brief scores
Qatar beat Kuwait by two wickets in 11.5 overs
Kuwait: 126 for 9 (Meet Bhavsar 25 off 17, Shiraz Khan 25 off 27; Musawar Shah 3/18, Muhammad Murad Khan 3/24)
Qatar: 127 for eight in 1.5 overs (Andri Berenger 37 off 16, Kamran Khan 31 off 19, Shiraz Khan 3/33, Adnan Idrees 2/20)
Player of the match: Musawar Shah of Qatar (3/18)
Player of the series: Mohammed Aslam of Kuwait (73 runs & 9 wkts)
