UAE head Group B after big win
UAE moved to the top of Group B on day four of the ACC Trophy Elite while Afghanistan continue to dominate Group A in the Emirates.
A convincing victory for UAE over Kuwait was built on an imposing 353 after being put into bat. Five batsmen posted half-centuries with openers Abdul Shakoor (79) and Arshad Ali (70) setting the ball rolling with a first-wicket stand of 116. Saqib Ali (78) pushed his side on during the middle overs before Rohan Mustafa (60) and Mohammad Azam (51) kicked on in the last 10 overs in a sixth-wicket partnership of 77. Irfan Bhatti (44) and Abid Mushtaq (28) gave Kuwait a flying start in the reply with 45 off 26 balls. Wickets then fell as regular intervals as their innings petered out to 212 to give UAE a win by 141 runs. Arshad Ali took three wickets while three bowlers claimed two apiece.
Nepal claimed their second win from three matches in a tight Group B to inflict a third straight loss upon Saudi Arabia. Captain Paras Khadka led from the front for Nepal with two early wickets on his way to 3-35. Basanta Regmi (3-29) then took care of the middle order as Saudi Arabia were dismissed for 131. Subash Khakurel and Anil Mandal put on 52 for the first wicket off 45 balls to give Nepal the perfect launchpad in the reply. No.3 Gyanendra Malla then finished the job off in style with 61 not out off just 23 balls (13 x 4/1 x 6) to get Nepal home by nine wickets with 36.5 overs left unused.
Afghanistan remain unbeaten in Group A after comfortably wrapping up a fourth straight win by eight wickets against Bhutan. Sayed Shirzad took 5-13 as Bhutan were dismissed for just 107 after opting to bat. Captain Jigme Singye top-scored for Bhutan with 40 but no other batsman surpassed 15. Afghanistan coasted to their target off just 13.2 overs with Gulbodin Naib (34 off 25 balls) and skipper Nawroz Mangal (58 not out off 40 balls) leading the way.
Malaysia eased into second in Group A with an emphatic seven-wicket victory over Maldives. Ahmed Faiz (66 not out) led the pursuit of 147 - with good support from Anwar Arudin (31) and Suhan Kumar (39) - as Malaysia got home with 17.3 overs to spare. Anwar Rahman (5-27) had earlier sparked a Maldives collapse that saw them go from 91-3 to 146 all out. Mohammad Rishwan (44) and Ahmed Faiz (39 not out) were the only Maldives batsmen to hang around for long.