Three Bowled, One Maiden, Fourteen Runs: Asif Javed Helps Bahrain Defend 104 and Edge Thailand by Seven

When Thailand held Bahrain to 104 for 6, they would have walked off feeling the hard part was done. Their decision to field had been rewarded: six bowlers used, none of them collared, and only two sixes conceded all innings. A target of 105 at a little over five an over is the kind of chase a side expects to manage.

For four overs it went to plan. Thailand were 24 without loss, Akshaykumar Yadav had hit three fours, and then Bahrain's bowlers took the game away in a little over six overs. From 24 for 0 Thailand fell to 42 for 5, and though the lower order fought back hard, they finished on 97 for 8. Bahrain won by 7 runs.

Bahrain's batting was a grind for most of the innings. Asif Ali and Prashant Kurup put on 32 for the first wicket, but it took them 6.4 overs, and by the end of the 14th over Bahrain were 60 for 4. Junaid Aziz's 26 from 27 was the top score. What gave the total its shape was the finish: 44 runs from the last six overs, and Imran Anwar's 22 not out from 14 balls, which included both of Bahrain's sixes. He and Shujaat Rasool added an unbroken 18 for the seventh wicket. In a match decided by seven runs, those late blows were worth more than they looked at the time.

With the ball, Bahrain had two bowlers who simply would not give anything away. Asif Javed bowled four overs for 14 with a maiden and bowled three batters — Yadav, Suanchuai and Thakur. Abdul Majid's four overs cost nine, also with a maiden, and brought two wickets. Between them: eight overs, two maidens, 23 runs, five wickets. Ali Dawood's four overs for 15 kept the pressure on from the other end. Bahrain's other bowlers went for 57 in eight overs, with Rizwan Butt conceding 36, but the work was already done.

Prashant Kurup had a hand in three of the eight Thai wickets behind the stumps: a catch, a stumping and a run-out from the final ball of the match.

Thailand's bowlers were excellent. Nopphon Senamontree took 2 for 15, Chanchai Pengkumta 1 for 15, Austin Lazarus 1 for 16, and Aruesanan Wichakam took two wickets as well. Bahrain scored at 5.20 an over and were never allowed to settle. On another day, 104 is a total that loses.

The chase turned between the fifth over and the eleventh. From 24 for 0, Thailand lost five wickets for 18 runs, including two at 42 within three balls in the 11th over. Phanuphong Thongsa's 21 needed 30 balls, and at 66 for 6 after 15.5 overs Thailand needed 39 from the last 25 balls. The lower order made a real go of it. Pattarapol Jirapatananukul hit Thailand's only six in his 23 from 25, Pengkumta finished unbeaten on 13 from 12, and the seventh wicket added 28 — but it fell at 94 with two balls left, and the target stayed out of reach. Thailand scored 31 from those last 25 balls. They hit eight fours to Bahrain's six. They simply lost too many wickets in too short a space in the middle overs.

Everything in the scorecard says runs were hard to come by at Bangi. Only three sixes were hit in 40 overs, two maidens were bowled in a T20, and seven of the twelve bowlers conceded under five an over. Bahrain scored at 5.20 an over, Thailand at 4.85. On a surface like this, a side that keeps its wickets is usually the one that wins, and Bahrain lost six to Thailand's eight.

Four overs, one maiden, 14 runs, three wickets — and all three of them bowled. His three victims were Akshaykumar Yadav, whose three fours had given Thailand their brisk start, Phiriyapong Suanchuai, and Mukesh Thakur for a duck. Each time, the ball found the stumps.

His batting contribution was three runs from six balls, and on many days a bowler's figures like these would be a footnote to someone's innings. Not here. In a low-scoring match, where seven runs separated the sides at the end, a spell that conceded 14 and took three wickets was the difference. There is a particular kind of pressure that comes not from pace or noise but from a bowler who never gives you a ball to hit, and Thailand felt it from Asif Javed for four overs.

CricIntel did not publish a preview for this match, so there is no prediction to review.

Qualifier A is a seven-team single round robin running from October 5 to 14 in Malaysia. After day one, Kuwait (2 points, net run rate +2.90), Bhutan (2, +1.35) and Bahrain (2, +0.35) have two points each; Thailand, Myanmar and Qatar have none, and Mongolia have yet to play.

Both of these sides play again on October 6. Bahrain stay at Bangi to face Bhutan, who also won on day one. Thailand move to Bayuemas Oval to play Qatar, who lost their opener to Kuwait — a meeting of two teams looking for their first points.