Bahrain Advance to 2022 Men's T20 World Cup Global Qualifier

Qatar vs Kuwait

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 on Friday, the home team made a heavy weather of the 127-run target. Though they clinched it by two wickets, the target was not chased down quick enough to ensure progress by virtue of net run rate.

It meant that Bahrain got the better of Qatar on the net run rate and topped the five-team pool by 0.093 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 to. Their five wickets and one run had Kuwait struggling for six down at 62. Skipper Mohammed Aslam and Shiraz Khan stabilized 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.

Player of the Match: Musawar Shah of Qatar (3/18)

Player of the Series: Mohammed Aslam of Kuwait (73 runs and 9 wickets)