THE Bahrain Colts made a good start in the ICC Under-19 World Cup qualifiers (Group ‘B’, Division 2) in Chaing Mai, Thailand, winning their first two matches in contrasting style.
In the first match on Sunday, Bahrain edged out Maldives by 14 runs in a thriller while on Monday, the Bahrain team members flexed their muscles more emphatically in routing China by 124 runs.
Opting to bat first against China, Bahrain reached 180 all out in 49 overs with R Ramesh (58, 127 balls, 3 four, 1 six) the top scorer while Sajjad Khan contributed a 79-ball 48 (5 four, 3 six).
In reply, China were bundled out for 56 in 24 overs with Mohammed Waleed (3-9) and P Venkatesh (2-2) the successful bowlers for Bahrain. Bahrain opted to bat first against Maldives too and reached 173 all out in 44.3 overs.
Captain Jagan Vijay Kumar (60, 85 balls, 7 fours) was the top scorer.
In reply, Maldives gave Bahrain a run for its money but fell short by 14 runs as they were all out for 159 in 40.2 overs. Sajjan Khan was the hero for Bahrain claiming five wickets for 25 runs.