KUWAIT CITY, May 1: Riding on a magnificent unbeaten 51 runs by captain Hisham Mirza Kuwait National cricket team secured a fabulous victory by  3-wickets win over hosts Botswana in the ongoing ICC World Cricket League Division 7 in Gaborone, Botswana. A run-a-ball 51 runs by Hisham who was rightly declared man of the match led Kuwait to the victory path as they were at one stage reeling badly at 66 for 6. Hisham Mirza was well supported by the talented Saad Khalid as they shared a 46 runs partnership to steer Kuwait to victory in the 19th over. Botswana’s medium-pacers Omar Ali and Aslam Chand bowled well and ran through the top order of the star studded Kuwait batting line up. Abid was the only other Kuwait batsman who scored a cameo 21 of just 11 balls. Omar Ali finished with 3 for 42, while Chand took 3 for 36.

Earlier, Kuwait winning the toss elected to field and on a rain affected pitch, Kuwait opening bowlers Mohammed Murad & Saad Khalid ripped the Botswana batting and jolted them with fierce fast bowling. Botswana were in tatters at 16 for 4 and they did not recover. A brace of 30s from James Moses and Denzil Sequeira dragged Botswana past 100 but the tail folded quickly. Mohammad Murad was Kuwait’s most successful bowler, taking 3 for 30 and Saad accounted for 2 wickets. Kuwait spinners Abdulla Akunzada & Azmattullah also bowled well to capture two wickets each. Botswana were dismissed for 120 in 40.3 overs.

In the other matches played, Germany defeated Japan by nine wickets   and Nigeria prevailed over Norway by 5 wickets.