20 August 2006

BAHRAIN PLAY IT SMART

Bahrain v Maldives at Royal Millitary College

BAHRAIN WON BY 35 RUNS

Bahrain showed their strength in depth to withstand a strong Maldivian challenge and win their final group match by 36 runs at the Royal Military College.

Some big names were back in the pavilion when Asghar Bajwa joined Azeem-ul-Haq at the crease with Bahrain on 62 for 4 at the end of the 18th over. Bajwa's got a tough head ad well as fast hands as he showed in the ACC Middle East Cup Final in February and here he simply played the ball into the gaps, eschewed any risk and together with Azeem set about pushing the field back and milking the 1s and 2s.

Bajwa's performance, good as it was, as overshadowed by Azeem's who follwing Bajwa's departure for 57 really laid into the bowling and from 182 in the 41st over, 88 more runs were struck. Tahir Dar made 38 off 29 deliveries from just eight scoring shots, Azeem reached his hundred with a four (103 balls, 11 fours and 1 six) in the final over.

270 was a tough ask but with Moosa Kaleem on your side any team's going to have a chance. Maldives were 43 for 2 in the 8th over when he came in and from the start he showed himself to be a true class apart. Footwork, positioning and with plenty of time to play, Kaleem steadied the innings with Abdulla Shafeeu who held up one end very well for an hour. Then, as the remaining batsmen tried valiantly to stay with him, dominated every subsequent stand.

With Maldives on 151 for 6 in the 34th over, the required run-rate was a little above five an over and as long as Moosa Kaleem was there the Maldives would be in with a shout. Ahmed Umar fell to a fizzing beauty from left-arm spinner Qamar Saeed and though Kaleem reached a run-a-ball 100, the other batsmen couldn't impose themselves on the tightening Bahraini bowling.

With Kaleem unable to bat both ends, the Maldives innings petered out. Kaleeem finished on 130 off 131 deliveries, having hit 12 fours and 5 sixes.

"All the Bahrain players did well, coming back from a tricky start showed a lot of character and when we bowled we always had things under control", said Haroon Rashid, Bahrain's coach.

Bahrain are now secure in the elite group of the next ACC Trophy rankings. They play Nepal in the quarter-final at Bayuemas on Tuesday.

GROUP B
Bahrain v Maldives at Royal Millitary College
Toss: Maldives
BAHRAIN WON BY 35 RUNS
Bahrain: 270 for 5 in 50 overs (A. Majeed 57, A. Mirza 102*,T. Dar 38*)
Maldives: 235 for 8 in 50 overs (M.Kaleem 138*)
Man of the Match: Moosa Kaleem (Maldives)
Points: Bahrain 2, Maldives 0