Tony Munro Malaysia captain Suhan Kumar Alagaratnam has credited his team’s youthful exhuberance for its sem-final placing at the ACC Trophy in Kuwait last week. It was Malaysia’s first semi-final appearance since 2002. “With an average age of 23 we were clearly the underdogs from the start and just allowed us to play with more freedom,” said skipper Suhan Kumar Alagaratnam, himself aged 23. Coming off just knocking United Arab Emirates out of the tournament, his team were completely unfazed when Nepal set a stiff target to get into the…
Written on April 12, 2010 | Posted in
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Tony Munro Afghanistan has vindicated its raging favouritism for the ACC Trophy Elite title with an emphatic 95-run win over Nepal in the final in Kuwait City on Friday. A mainly pro-Afghanistan crowd of about 5,000 cheered, banged drums and looked on as the two most passionately supported non-Test countries in Asia contested a final where the ball was dominant over the bat. All-rounder Binod Das in for Mahaboob Alam was the only change for Nepal, while Afghanistan fielded the same team which beat Hong Kong in the semi-final. After…
Tony Munro The pain of missing the semi-finals of the ACC Trophy Elite for the first time has been compounded for United Arab Emirates following their 34-run loss in the fifth-sixth place play-off against Oman in Kuwait on Thursday. Sent in by Oman, the Emiratis put in a spirited batting display, hitting 265 runs in 48.3 overs, thanks chiefly due to captain Khurram Khan’s 90 from 71 balls, including 11 fours and two sixes. Khan combined with another veteran, Arshad Ali, (35) in a run-a-ball third-wicket partnership of 98, after…
Tony Munro A new country will have its name added to the list of ACC Trophy Elite winners when Afghanistan plays Nepal in the final on Friday. Afghanistan comfortably beat defending champions Hong Kong by five wickets in one semi-final while Nepal held off a brave chase by Malaysia to win by eight runs in the other. Mohammad Nabi maintained his reputation as Afghanistan’s best player to earn the Man-of-the-Match award taking 3 for 35 and then contributing 35 not out in another good all-round performance. Nabi ended the innings…
Tony Munro Malaysia has caused the boil-over of the 2010 ACC Trophy Elite tournament in Kuwait by knocking out tradtional heavyweight United Arab Emirates (UAE) on net run-rate to snare a semi-final berth. It will be the first ACC Trophy since 1998 without UAE in the final, let alone the semi-finals – ironically 1998 was the last time Malaysia was a finalist. After UAE chose to bat, allrounder Suresh Navaratnam proved to be the catalyst for the upset, taking four for 29 from his 10 overs, including UAE openers Arshad…
Written on April 7, 2010 | Posted in
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Adnan Ilyas’s unbeaten 82 helped Oman ease to a comfortable victory over Kuwait at Unity, ensuring Oman hold on to their No. 2 position in Group B. Deep Trividi (4 for 36) led a solid bowling effort from Oman, which halted any hopes of the Kuwait batsmen making the most of a series of good starts. Six passed 20 but Khalid Butt’s dashing 55 was the only score half-century of the innings. At 176 for 7, Kuwait were struggling to post a competitive total but a 47-run eighth-wicket stand between…
Written on April 4, 2010 | Posted in
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Hamid Hasan’s five-wicket haul triggered a late-innings collapse that derailed Malaysia’s chase, as Afghanistan sneaked home by one run at Hubara. Afghanistan’s top order laid a strong foundation after they won the toss, but the rest of the batsmen could not drive home the advantage. Karim Sadiq started well with a run-a-ball 46, and Asghar Stanikzai lent good support to lift the score to 82 for 2, and later 117 for 3, in good time. Thereafter, the lower order lost the plot and it was left to Raees Ahmadzai to…
Saqib Ali took charge of UAE’s chase against Afghanistan and scored a brisk 93 to steer his side to a tense two-wicket victory. Chasing 218 to win, UAE lost their first wicket on 0 and, by the 20th over, had slipped to 62 for 4. Saqib held up one end but support was thin at the other. However, he inched UAE closer to the target, striking six fours and two sixes, and was unbeaten when the winning runs were struck off the first ball of the 50th over. Shahpoor Zadran…
Nepal brushed aside Hong Kong by 118 runs in their opening match of the ACC Trophy, at Unity. After the early loss of a wicket, Anil Mandal and Shakti Gauchan set the platform for a strong score with their 118-run partnership. Mandal was the more aggressive of the two, striking three sixes and eight fours in his 96-ball 72, while Gauchan contributed 65. Nadeem Ahmed and Moner Ahmed kept things tight after that, snaring eight wickets between them as Nepal finished with 236 for 7. Mehboob Alam’s opening burst ensured…
Written on April 1, 2010 | Posted in
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Tony Munro Non-Test cricket’s celebrity team of the last few years, Afghanistan, start their quest for a first ACC Trophy in Kuwait on Wednesday as favourites, ahead of defending champions, Hong Kong and traditional tournament heavyweights, UAE. The customary qualification for the Asia Cup is not on offer to the finalists, so the main interest may be whether the full-strength Afghans can continue their recent run of success. This includes qualification for next month’s World Twenty20 which they earned by snaring the ACC Twenty20 Cup in November, and winning World…
Written on March 31, 2010 | Posted in
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