Rasheed, Saleem steer Saudi Arabia to massive win

Saudi Arabia continued its impressive run on Day four of the 2014 Asian Cricket Council Elite League in Singapore, winning its fourth consecutive game on Wednesday (June 11) to maintain its pole position in the points table. On the back of centuries from Shahbaz Rasheed and captain Afzal Saleem, it cruised to a whopping 188-run win over Maldives at the Indian Association Ground.

After his clinical bowling performance took the side to victory on Tuesday, Ibrarul Haq struck a half-century before Rasheed (138*) and Saleem (100*) shared an unbeaten 246-run stand for the fourth wicket to take Saudi Arabia to 347 for 3 after being asked to bat.

It was always going to be a stiff chase but after losing early wickets, the target became even steeper for Maldives. Wicketkeeper Mohammed Azzam and Mohamed Mahfooz notched up patient knocks, but eventually finished at 159 for 7.

Elsewhere, at the Kallang Ground, Singapore sealed an eight-wicket win over Bahrain, overhauling the 87-run target in just 6.5 overs and ending the game with a six, after opting to field.

Mulewa Dharmichand ran through Bahrain's middle order after Amjad Mahboob dismissed the openers, returning figures of 4 for 10 in his seven overs, to restrict the visitors to 86 in 29.5 overs. Adil Hanif top-scored with 28 and was the only batsman in the side to cross the 20-run mark.

Despite an early breakthrough in the second over, Bahrain's bowlers were outclassed by Singapore's batsmen. Chetan Suryawanshi remained unbeaten on a 14-ball 37 while Arjun Mutrja scored a 17-ball 33 to take Singapore to its third win on the trot.

At the Padang, Kuwait, registered its third win in the competition as it beat Bhutan by six wickets, restricting it to 169 for 7 after being asked to field. In reply, the Kuwait openers set the tone for the chase putting on 73 runs in six overs and eventually crossed the line in 13.4 overs.

Mohammed Irfan holed out for a 24-ball 54, but wicketkeeper Mohammed Ghulam remained unbeaten on 59 off 28 to steer the team home with 36 overs to spare.

Earlier, Bhutan was reduced to 32 to 3, courtesy twin strikes by Ali Zaheer. Manoj Adhikari's 39 aside, a seventh-wicket partnership between Thinley Jamtsho (35*) and Suprit Pradhan (31) took the team to 169 for 7, but it wasn't enough to challenge Kuwait.