Asia Cup 2018 qualifiers: Round Up Day 1

The qualifiers started today in Malaysia.

Nepal were stunned by Oman in the final game of the day. ( PTI)

The Asia Cup 2018 qualifiers started off in Malaysia from Wednesday (August 29)  featuring hosts Malaysia, Nepal, Oman, Hong Kong, Singapore and United Arab Emirates (UAE) will be held across three venues in Malaysia. The venues hosting the matches will be Kinrara Oval, Bayuemas Oval and UKM Oval.

The first three games played out today which saw a few upsets. Team Circle of Cricket gets down to summarize all the matches giving a glimpse of the highlights from the contests. 

UAE v Singapore

Razza picked up six wickets for UAE. (Czarsportz)

In the first match, UAE started off their campaign with a big victory over Singapore by a 215 run margin. Chirag Suri and Ahmed Raza were the chief architects of the win, the former scored a 124-ball 111 and the latter picked up 6 for 20.

Singapore won the toss and asked UAE to bat first as they piled up 312/8 in 49 overs. Suri was involved in two back to back 100 run partnerships providing the platform for the huge total. 

Singapore in their chase was hurt by a six-wicket haul from Ahmed Raza who broke the momentum of their chase very early. 97 was all the Singapore could muster which included Chetan Suryawanshi's unbeaten 51, the final total would have looked even more embarrassing. Only three batsmen managed to reach double digits and the highest partnership of the innings came for the last wicket, 47 runs.

Brief scores

 UAE 312/8 in 49 overs (Chirag Suri 111, Shaiman Anwar 75, Ashfaq Ahmed 64; Amjad Mahboob 3/61) beat Singapore 97 in 25.4 overs (Chetan Suryawanshi 51*; Ahmed Raza 6/20, Rohan Mustafa 2/24) by 215 runs

Hong Kong v MalaysiaBabar Hayat scored in a losing cause for Hong Kong. (Getty) In the second of the three games on the opening day, hosts Malaysia beat Hong Kong at Kinrara Academy Oval, Malaysia.

Bowling first Malaysia restricted Hong Kong to 161 inside 50 overs. Babar Hayat scored a crucial 58 but there was nothing more from the rest of the batters.  Pavandeep Singh and Suharril Fetri justified their skipper's decision to bowl first. The duo claimed six wickets and were economical, their combined figures read 20-5-37-6.

Chasing the modest total, Malaysia got off to a poor start. However, opener Shafiq Sharif held one end up and added a crucial partnership for the fourth wicket.  The lower order also chipped in with vital contributions to take their team over the line. 

Brief scores

 Hong Kong 161 in 46.4 overs (Babar Hayat 58; Pavandeep Snigh 3/13, Suharril Fetri 3/24, Syazrul Idrus 3/37) lost to Malaysia 162/7 in 42.5 overs (Shafiq Sharif 49, Syed Aziz 25; Nadeem Ahmed 4/24) by 3 wickets.

Nepal vs Oman 

Sagar Pun for Nepal (Getty)This match saw an upset as Oman beat Nepal in the contest. Nepal considered a superior team than Oman was left stunned by the result.
 
Nepal got a steady start batting first. Gyanendra Malla scored a steady 45 followed by Sagar Pun who capitalized on the good start with an 83. However, Nepal lost wickets at the end as they finished in 221 for 9. 

Oman lost opener Aqib Ilyas early in the piece. However, their middle order did the needful as Khawar Ali (84*) and Vaibhav Wategaonkar (41) held their nerves to take their team over the line as Oman registered a memorable victory over their superior opponents. 

Brief scores

 Nepal 221/9 in 50 overs (Sagar Pun 83, Gyanendra Malla 45; Ajay Lalcheta 2/34, Bilal Khan 2/54) lost to Oman 224/3 in 48 overs (Khawar Ali 84*, Zeeshan Maqsood 45*, Vaibhav Wategaonkar 41) by 7 wickets.
 

 
 

By Anshuman Roy - 29 Aug, 2018

    Share Via