KUWAIT CITY, Feb 5: In one of the most exiting matches so far witnessed in the ongoing ACC U-19 Women’s championship, hosts Kuwait scored an astonishing 3 wickets victory over the fancied Hong Kong to top the tables in group B.
Winning the toss, Hong Kong elected to bat first and openers Mariko Hill & Mccusker Dominique posted a mammoth 92 runs partnership. Playing with utmost confidence & style both the batswomen exhibited excellent cricketing skills. The tall & lanky Mariko Hill with controlled aggression and tactful planning hit a magnificent 52 runs while Mccusker notched up 32 runs. As the partnership was looking dangerous, Mccusker was run out by a super pick up & throw by rival captain Priyada Murali. Chan Sau Ha scored a brisk 21 runs. Afia Khan claimed two wickets for 17 runs with her slow off breaks.
Chasing a huge total and already in the semi final, Kuwait openers Priyada Murali & Khansa Irfan laid a solid foundation of 39 runs for the first wicket. Two quick wickets in succession by Hong Kong brought the game in balance. But Varshini Suresh & Maryam Omer played one the most memorable innings of their life time as both put on 73 runs for the fifth wicket to bring back the game in Kuwait’s favor. Varshini cracked a swashbuckling innings of 39 runs & Maryam hit a wonderful 25 runs to give Kuwait a superb victory in the last over. Varshini Suresh got her second Player of the match award for her power packed innings.
Nepal prevailed over UAE by 68 runs to stay on top of pool A as the mountain kingdom scored 158 runs in 25 overs with Indu Varma (32 runs) and Sonu Khadka (30) being the major contributors. Shambhavi Gupta 2-13, Ayesha Naushad Khan 2-28 & Humaira Tasneen 2-18 being the major wicket takers for UAE. UAE gave a reasonable performance by scoring 90 runs as Rubina Chettri with 4 for 15 being the top wicket taker for Nepal. SonuKhadka was declared Player of the match for her batting skills.
Bhutan cemented their place in the semi final of group B as they comfortably defeated Qatar by 8 wickets. Qatar batting first scored 77 run with Rifza Bano scoring 18 runs. Tsnering Wangmo 2-11, Ugyen Dema 2-8 and Sonam Chodan 2-10 were the wicket takers for Bhutan.
Chasing 77 runs Bhutan played sensible cricket to win in the 20th over. Ugyen Dema with 35 runs played well to be declared Player of the match for her all round performance.
Thailand scored a fascinating victory over China to increase the chances of reaching the semi final berth in the fourth match of the day. Batting first at Hubara, Thailand scored 111 runs in 25 overs, thanks to the magnificent innings of 68 by Chanida Suthiruang who hit 12 boundaries in her scintillating knock. Matching their talented rivals, China put up a brave performance by scoring 97 runs. Ying Li Li played well to score 20 runs. Chanida Suthiruang was chosen Player of the match for her master class batting.
Schedule
Feb 6, 2012 Monday 08:00 Malaysia vs UAE Unity
Nepal vs Thailand Hubara