Thirteen Sixes and a Hundred From the Last 53 Balls: Kuwait Overpower Qatar by 58 Runs

Qatar chose to field, and inside three overs Adnan Idrees had made them wonder about it. He hit two fours and two sixes in an 11-ball 23, and Kuwait were 33 for 1 when he fell in the third over. On a day when the first match at this same ground had produced 211 runs in 40 overs, Kuwait made 199 in 20 on their own.

It was not a smooth climb. Kuwait were 99 for 4 in the 12th over, and for a moment Qatar had a way back. Then came the second half of the innings: 100 runs from the last 53 balls, and 13 sixes across the innings. Qatar batted with spirit and reached 66 for 1, but 200 was always going to need something extraordinary, and they finished on 141 for 8. Kuwait won by 58 runs.

What stands out about Kuwait's 199 is that nobody made 40. Muhammad Umar and Bilal Tahir top-scored with 32 each, and seven batters reached double figures. This was an innings built on depth rather than one big hand, and it meant Qatar never had a single wicket that could change the course of things.

After Idrees fell, Ravija Sandaruwan and Clinto Anto added 52 for the second wicket, taking Kuwait to 85 in the ninth over. Then came Qatar's best passage of the innings: three wickets fell between 85 and 99, and Kuwait were 99 for 4 in the 12th over. A lesser side might have consolidated. Kuwait did the opposite. Umar's 32 came from 20 balls, Ali Zaheer's 24 from 13 with three sixes, and Bilal Tahir's unbeaten 32 from 16, also with three sixes. The last six overs alone produced 73 runs, and 24 of them came from the final seven balls. Of Kuwait's 199, 134 came in boundaries — 14 fours and 13 sixes.

The bowling then did what it needed to do. Idrees took 2 for 22 and Mohammed Aslam 2 for 28, Meet Bhavsar's four overs went for 23 with a wicket, and Yasin Patel's for 27. Every one of Kuwait's bowlers conceded less than eleven an over, and against a target of 200 that was more than enough.

The day was a hard one for Qatar's attack. Mirza Mohammed Baig's four overs cost 55, Shahzeb Afridi's two cost 32, and once Kuwait got going there was very little anyone could do. Daniel Louis was the pick of them with 2 for 29, including Ali Zaheer, and Shariq Munir went at under seven an over. Muhammad Asim bowled his full four overs for 27 and took a wicket.

The chase deserves credit. Zubair Ali hit two fours in a three-ball 8 before he fell to Shahrukh Quddus in the opening over, and Imal Liyanage and Zeeshan Haider responded by adding 58 for the second wicket. Liyanage's 39 from 28 balls, with six fours and a six, was the best innings by a Qatari batter on the day. Qatar reached 66 for 1 in the eighth over, scoring at close to nine an over. But the required rate was higher still, and when two wickets fell for two runs, the chase lost its thread. Asim's 28 from 22 and Shahzaib Jamil's 22 from 13 kept them going, but at 115 for 5 after 14 overs, 85 were still needed from 36 balls. Three wickets for 15 runs followed, and Qatar finished on 141 for 8. They lost by 58 runs, but they did not stop batting.

This was the same ground, Bayuemas Oval, that had hosted the opening match between Bhutan and Myanmar on the same day, when the two sides made 211 runs and hit four sixes between them. Here, Kuwait and Qatar made 340 runs and hit 17 sixes. Kuwait scored at 9.95 an over and Qatar at 7.05. Whatever the pitch offered, Kuwait's batters made the most of it.

Twenty-three runs from 11 balls is not a big score. But Idrees' 23 came with two fours and two sixes, at a strike rate of over 209, and Kuwait were 33 for 1 inside three overs because of it. Openers who play like that set the terms for everyone who follows, and the rest of Kuwait's order batted as if they had been given permission.

He then bowled four overs for 22 and took two wickets, Zeeshan Haider and Mirza Mohammed Baig, both caught. That is a complete performance in a T20: a fast start with the bat and a full, economical spell with the ball. Some players win a match in one big moment; Idrees won it in small, clear-headed pieces, and by the end the pieces added up to 58 runs.

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. Kuwait finish day one at the top of the table on 2 points with a net run rate of +2.90, ahead of Bhutan (2, +1.35) and Bahrain (2, +0.35). Thailand, Myanmar and Qatar are on none, and Mongolia have yet to play.

Both teams play again on October 6 at Bayuemas Oval. Kuwait face Mongolia, who begin their campaign. Qatar take on Thailand, who lost narrowly to Bahrain — two sides looking for their first points of the event.