CRICKET – A COMPOSED half-century by Aryan Ashwin led Bahrain to a five-wicket win over hosts Thailand in their opening Group A game of the 2026 ICC U19 Men’s CWC Division Two Asia Qualifiers at the TerdThai Cricket Ground in Bangkok yesterday.
With Bahrain needing 151 to win off 50 overs, the left-handed Ashwin stroked eight fours in his 56 off 86 balls and shared a 93-run stand for the first wicket with fellow opener Abhinav Girish Vashisht in 17.2 overs.
Vashisht’s dismissal for 34 sparked a collapse with four more wickets going down for just 39 runs in 13 overs but Muhammad Hamdan Akram (12 not out) and Joswin Laurence D’Souza (nine not out) ensured that Bahrain reached the victory target with more than 11.4 overs to spare.
Earlier, Bahrain captain Muhammad Adil Haq Nawaz won the toss and put Thailand in to bat with the hosts slumping to 101 for five in the 23rd over before being bowled out for 150 off 34.3 overs.
Left-arm medium-pacer Akram was the pick of the bowlers, taking three wickets for 23 runs off 7.3 overs while off-spinner Mounish Swamy took two for 32 off eight overs.
Ashwin was declared the player-of-the-match.
Bahrain will play Malaysia, who lost to Kuwait by five wickets yesterday, in their second game tomorrow.