Bahrain continued their unbeaten run in the 2023 ACC Men’s Challenger Cup as they steamrolled Iran by 10 wickets yesterday in their final Group A match at the Terdthai Cricket Ground in Bangkok, Thailand, to notch up their third successive win.
Batting first after captain Abdolvahab Ebrahimpour won the toss, Iran were skittled out for a paltry 46 with their innings lasting only 19.5 overs in a match that had been reduced to 45-overs-a-side, instead of the scheduled 50, because of wet conditions caused by heavy dew overnight.
Man of the match, left-arm spinner Abdul Majid Malik was the wrecker-in-chief, snapping up four for 12 off 6.5 overs with fellow left-armer Zeeshan Abbas joining in the fun with three for 23 off nine overs.
Needing only 47 to win, Bahrain raced to the target in just four overs without losing a wicket with Sohail Ahmed, promoted to open the innings, smashing an unbeaten 30 off just 12 balls and Ahmer Bin Nasir, also opening for the first time, finishing with a more sedate 16 not out off 13 deliveries.
The day belonged to Malik and Abbas, who spun a web around the hapless Iranian batsmen, bamboozling them with their variations in flight, turn and bounce, after medium-pacer Ali Dawood had provided Bahrain with an early breakthrough by trapping opener Arshad Mazarzei for nought in the third over of the innings.
Abbas, then, accounted for Yousef Shadzehisarjou, Masood Jayese and Zahid Afarin in quick succession to leave Iran reeling at 10 for four in the sixth over.
That set the stage for the Malik show and the crafty left-armer quickly nipped out Ebrahimpour and Mehdi Mansourinia in the span of three deliveries with Iran staring into the abyss at 29 for six after 12.5 overs.
Abbas Ali Raeisi, who had come in at the fall of the first wicket, watched the rot helplessly from the other end as his brother, Dadrahman Raeisi, walked in to bat at number eight.
The two managed to add 12 runs off 5.3 overs before medium-pacer Imran Javed Anwer, brought on by Bahrain captain Haider Butt in the 19th over, castled Dadrahman for eight before also rattling Nader Zahediafzal’s stumps three balls later.
Iran were now 45 for eight after 18.5 overs and, six balls later, had been bowled out for a dismal 46, with Malik taking the last two wickets in the space of three deliveries. Abbas Ali remained unbeaten with 14, the highest score of the innings.
With no scoreboard pressure to contend with, Ahmed and Nasir clattered seven boundaries between them to overhaul the small target with ease and 41 overs remaining, celebrating joyously when, with the scores level, Nasir cut the ball to the point boundary to seal a crushing victory.
Bahrain had already qualified for the semi-finals after winning their first two games. Now, after having topped Group A with six points, they will have to wait until the end of today’s Group B match between Indonesia and hosts Thailand, who are level on two points each, to find out which of the two teams they will play in Friday’s semi-final.
Saudi Arabia, who will play Myanmar in their final Group B game today, lead the four-team group already with four points. If, as expected, they beat Myanmar to remain group leaders, they will play Bhutan, the second-placed team in Group A, in the other semi-final, also on Friday.
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