Bahrain will play Bhutan today in their second Group A match of the eight-team 2024 ICC U19 Men’s Cricket World Cup Asia Division 2 Qualifier at the Al Amerat Cricket Ground in Oman, knowing that a win will propel them straight into the semi-finals.
The kingdom’s team got their campaign off to a perfect start on Thursday, beating Saudi Arabia by 57 runs by bowling their opponents out for 102 runs after having set them a 160-run target in their allotted 50 overs.
Bhutan, meanwhile, had a miserable outing in their first Group A match against hosts Oman, also on Thursday, collapsing to 54 all out as they sought to chase down a 256-run target set by their opponents.
Oman’s 201-run victory means that, despite the fact that they are level on two points each with Bahrain, they lead the four-team group table because of superior net run-rate.
Bahrain head coach, Aashish Kapoor will hope that his team produces a better batting performance than they did in the game against Saudi Arabia with only a rear-guard innings of 47 by all-rounder, Aryan Pande enabling the Bahrainis to get up to their eventual total of 159 all out in the 38th over.
The Division 2 Qualifier, with Hong Kong, Qatar, Singapore and Thailand slotted in Group B, is the stage before the Asia Qualifier in 2023. Kuwait, Malaysia, Nepal and the UAE have already qualified for that event. They will be joined by the two teams who reach the final of the Division 2 Qualifier on October 7.
The ICC U19 Men’s Cricket World Cup will be held in 2024, with the host country yet to be decided.
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