BANGKOK: Saudi Arabia’s cricket team won the ACC Challenger Cup final in Bangkok on Sunday after beating Cambodia by five wickets.
The Greens had won the 50-over version last year and their victory over Cambodia means they completed a well-deserved double as they won the 20-over competition and secured a place at April’s ACC Premier Cup in Oman.
Saudi Arabia won the toss and elected to field and the runs flowed in both innings of the match, but it was an entirely different proposition when Saudi Arabia were using the new ball. Ishtiaq Ahmad and Atif-ur-Rehman bowled a good line and length at fair pace, so runs were hard to come by.
Cambodia knew their only chance of making a competitive score was for Lugman Butt to bat to the end of the 20 overs and for the lower-order to give him useful support. Butt reached his 50 from 39 balls and Etienne Beukes hit two fours and two sixes from an Usman Khalid over.
Butt finished unbeaten on 80 from 53 balls with 10 fours and three sixes as he played a great innings against a strong bowling attack that would have brought back memories of his first-class career in Pakistan. Cambodia made 147 for five in 20 overs, which at least gave them a chance to make Saudi Arabia work hard for their victory.
Saudi Arabia started confidently with Abdul Waheed hitting three fours in the first over and three more boundaries came in the second over as they raced to 27 for zero.
Sharwan Godara took the first wicket as he had Waheed caught behind and Utkarsh Jain dismissed Faisal Khan caught and bowled. Jain followed that with the wicket of Waji-ul-Hassan, who was caught on the boundary. Saudi Arabia were 37 for three in four overs.
Waqar-ul-Hassan and Hisham Shaikh needed to build a partnership and boundaries to Hassan took the total to 54 for three in six overs. Hassan was the most consistent batter in the 50-over tournament last year and Shaikh was an experienced cricketer as well as captain of his country. Shaikh hit a six and Saudi Arabia were 80 for three after 10 overs.
Shaikh was determined to see his team through to victory on a day when all the captains had top scored for their teams. Hassan was out at 107 for four after a partnership of 70, but Manan Ali came in to support his captain.
Shaikh would finish just short of his 50 as Ali was out with just two runs needed. Shaikh hit a single to bring the scores level and Usman Khalid hit the winning boundary as Saudi Arabia won by five wickets as they finished on 151 for five in 17.3 overs.
Cambodia had made Saudi Arabia fight hard until the end of the contest. Shaikh was unbeaten on 47 from 41 balls and had figures of two for 25 so played a pivotal part in his side’s victory as they have now won both versions of the ACC Challenger Cup and look ahead to the Premier Cup in Oman.
