My sixth day’s report on Asian Cricket Council website: Kuwait skipper Bhavsar’s scintillating ton stuns Nepal while Bangladesh-Sri Lanka match called off
By K.R. Nayar
Kuwait skipper Meet
Bhavsar played a stupendous unbeaten knock of 175 to single-handedly carry his
team on his shoulders to a thrilling one-wicket win over Nepal on the sixth day
of the ACC Under-19 Asia Cup at the ICC Academy Ground 2.
Earlier in the day, the Bangladesh-Sri Lanka match at the Sharjah Cricket Stadium had to be called off following two officials being tested positive for Covid-19. Bhavsar wiped away the gloom of their previous losses through his knock that came off 149 balls studded with 24 boundaries and one six.
Kuwait vs Nepal at ICC
Academy Ground 2
Bhavsar’s century lifts
Kuwait to a stunning win over Nepal
Kuwait’s opener and
skipper Meet Bhavsar met the challenge of chasing Nepal’s total of 239 with
tremendous verve and a fine display of concentration and strength. The enormity
of his knock can be gauged from the fact that except for one batsman in his
team none of the others even reached double figures. With wickets falling at
regular intervals, Bhavsar stood like a colossus, shielding his other batsmen
from getting the strike, and ultimately won the match for his team. He scored
175 runs out of the 241 runs posted by his team.
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| Meet Bhavsar celebrates his century. Photo: ACC |
Earlier, Kuwait won the toss and elected to field. Their right-arm medium pacer Mirza Ahmed gave a good start by picking three quick wickets. He had Santosh Kari caught behind by wicketkeeper Mohamad Thoufiq for 5 and then went on to clean bowl Nepal opener and captain Dev Khanal for 5. He also clean bowled Nepal’s wicket-keeper Arjun Saud for 10.
Bibek Kumar Ranamagar and Basir Ahamad then steadied the innings. Ahamad hit off spinner Henry Thomas for three boundaries in the 10thover to carry Nepal past the 50 run mark. Both the batsmen scored at a steady pacer being severe on any loose deliveries. In the 12th over Ahmad hit Abdul Sadiq for a six and a boundary to take 18 runs off that over. Ranamagar reached his half century in 69 balls but fell two balls later, caught by Jude Saldanha off Thomas. His knock contained six boundaries and he put on 92 runs in 115 balls for the fourth wicket. One run later, leg spinner Mohammad Bastaki had Bibek Yadav caught by Abdullah Farooq for a duck.
Nepal were thus reduced to 126 for 5 in 25 overs. Ahamad reach his half century in 59 deliveries but three balls later fell to Bastaki. He got caught by Abdul Sadiq for 56 which contained seven boundaries and six. Thomas picked his second wicket trapping Gulshan Kumar Jha for 7.
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| Meet Bhavsar receives Player of the Match award. Photo: ACC |
Undaunted by the situation, Mohammad Aadil Alam went for his shots and hit two sixes off Bastaki. He also hit Abdullah Zaheer for a six and a boundary in the 30th over. Sher Malla too provided good support and the pair added 59 runs in 60 balls before Abdullah Sadiq trapped Malla leg before for 21. Alam continued to score boldly and smashed Zaheer for two consecutive sixes before being caught behind off Sadiq for 49. The last pair of Dipesh Kandel and Prakash Jaisi (5n.o) added 21 runs before Sadiq took his third wicket dismissing Kandel for 15.
Chasing Nepal’s total of
239 made from 42.3 overs, the Kuwait openers provided a splendid start. Bhavsar
went for his shots and with good support from his partner Jude Saldanha put on
a 100 runs partnership in 15.5 overs. Bhavsar raced to his half century
in just 37 balls. In the second over he hit Praksah Jaisi for three boundaries
and took 15 runs off that over. In the sixth over he hit Nepal skipper Dev
Khanal for two boundaries. He dominated the bowling in every over and also hit
Malla for two consecutive boundaries in the 11th over.
Saldanha kept giving the
strike to his aggressive skipper by taking singles. Gulshan Jha then ended the
109 runs partnership in the 18th over by having Saldanha caught
by Arjun Saud for 25. He had stayed at the crease for 42 deliveries hitting
three boundaries.
Abdul Sadiq who followed
lasted only six balls to score two runs before Bibek Kumar Yadav had him caught
by Santosh Karki. Yadav also got Mohamed Thoufiq out with the very next
ball. Abdullah Zaheer prevented Yadav from taking a hat-trick and backed his
skipper to add another 18 runs before getting clean bowled by Malla for
1. When Basir Ahamad quickly dismissed Muhammad Umar caught by Aadil Alam
for 1, half the Kuwait side was in the pavilion for 138 runs.
When Bhavsar was on 99, Kuwait lost Mohammad Bastaki caught at short leg by
Ranamagar off Basir Ahmad for 6. Bhavsar reached his century in the 36th over
off 102 balls with 14 boundaries. But Kuwait still needed 84 runs to win in the
next 14 overs with only four wickets in hand. Malla struck again to remove
Mirza Ahmed for a duck.
Bhavsar reached his 150 in 131 balls and kept carrying his team to the target
with Abdullah Farooq. Jha had Farooq caught and bowled for 7 and also clean
bowled Zeeshan Azeem for a duck. Shielding last man Henry Thomas from the
strike, Bhavsar then took the 13 runs needed for victory.
Bhavsar, who is born in
Kuwait and has his roots from Rajasthan in India, after winning the Player of
the Match award, said: “Frankly, I never imagined I would play such a knock. It
was my determination when I went out to bat that made me play such a knock. I
thank my parents and coaches for instilling such confidence and determination
in me. I told myself that whatever may happen we have to win this match.
When wickets fell at the other end, I told my batsmen to provide as much as strike
to me and I will try and win the match. Though I have hit centuries at the
school level, never have I played such a big knock and hit such a big score.
This win will be a big boost for cricket in Kuwait.”
Nepal skipper Dev Khanal
said: “It was Meet (Bhavsar) who took away the match from us. It was a great
knock and we fielded poorly and paid the price for it. We tried to win the
match but sometimes you need luck too to win a match and today we did not have
it.”
Brief score:
Kuwait Under-19 bt Nepal
Under-19 by one wicket.
Nepal Under-19: 239 in 42.3 overs (Bibek Kumar Ranamagar 50, Basir Ahmad 56,
Mohamad Aadil Alam 49, Sher Malla 21, Mirza Ahmed 3 for 22, Henry Thomas 2 for
36, Abdul Sadiq 3 for 42, Mohammad Bastaki 2 for 45) Kuwait Under-19: 241 for 9
in 48.5 overs (Meet Bhavsar 175n.o, Jude Saldanha 25, Gulsan Jha 3 for 70, Sher
Malla 2 for 48, Basir Ahamad 2 for 29, Bibek Yadav 2 for 33)
Player of the Match: Meet Bhavsar
Bangladesh posted 129 for 4 in 32.4 overs before the match was
called off following two officials being tested positive for
Covid-19. After Sri Lanka won the toss and elected to field,
Bangladesh’s in-form batsman Prantik Nawrose went on to hit 45 at the Sharjah
Cricket Stadium. All personnel associated with this match have been isolated
until further results and information regarding the semifinal will be made
available in due course.
The match began with Sri Lankan off spinner Traveen
Sashenka Mathew, playing his first match of the tournament, dismissing
both openers. He had Iftakher Hossain caught by Sadisha Rajapaksa for 3
and then went on to take the prize wicket of opener Mahijul Islam, who
had hit a century against Kuwait , by having him caught by Shevon Daniel for 4.
Bangladesh and Sri Lanka captains before the toss. Photo: ACC
Nawrose, who is in form
with a century against Nepal, quickly settled down and together with Aich
Mollah began to repair the damage. Picking the gaps well, Nawrose accelerated
the run rate. He got good backing from Mollah who also began to score
boundaries. The pair put on 55 runs in 80 balls for the third wicket when Sri
Lankan skipper and left-arm spinner Dunith Nethmika Wellalage ended Nawrose’s
knock. Nawrose’s 45 came off 64 balls with three boundaries and six. Two runs
later, Wellalage struck again and clean bowled Mollah for 24.
At the half way mark, Bangladesh were 89 for 4 with hard-hitting
Md Fahim and Ariful Islam battling hard against the tight Sri Lankan
bowling. The pair put on 47 runs for the fifth wicket when the match had
to be called off. Fahim remained unbeaten on 27 and Islam on 19.
Brief scores:
Sri Lanka Under-19 vs
Bangladesh Under-19: Match called off.
Sri Lanka Under-19: 129 for 4 in 32.4 overs (Prantik Nawrose
45, Aich Mollah 24, Md Fahim 27n.o, Traveen Sashenka
Mathew 2 for 18, Dunith Wellalage 2 for 17)
Match called off
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