(MENAFN- Gulf Times) After suffering their first loss in the tournament, Qatar bounced back with a massive 265-run win over China in the ICC World Cricket League Asia Region Division One at the Gymkhana Club in Chiang Mai, Thailand, yesterday.
Qatar's only loss in the tournament was against Bahrain, a 52-run defeat on Wednesday.
Yesterday, opener Kamran Khan set the foundation for Qatar with a quickfire 36-ball 69. Down the order, Zaheer Ibrahim (80; 82 balls, 12 fours, 1 six) and Dharmang Patel, who stayed unbeaten at 76 (61 balls, 8 fours, 2 sixes), helped Qatar set a 340-run target.
In reply, with only two batsmen getting into double figures, the Chinese were wrapped up at 74.
Qatar's Mohamed Nadeem cleaned up the tail after having scalped opener Zhuang Zelin (6) in his first over.
Earlier, Khan's knock included 13 boundaries and two sixes.
His opening partner Mohamed Tanveer (12) was the first to go, getting caught off Zhang Yu Fei, with the score at 25 in the third over.
Medium pacer Feng Yu was the pick of the bowlers for China, taking six wickets for 77.
Feng Yu sent back Khan, captain Inam-ul-Haq, wicketkeeper batsman Mohamed Rizlan and Tamoor Sajjad, but by then Qatar had already crossed the 150-run mark in the 18th over.
Awais Malik (15) then stitched a 58-run partnership with Ibrahim before another medium-pacer Zhang Peng had him out caught in the 29th over.
Ibrahim was cleaned up by Feng Yu after he had put together 76 runs for the seventh wicket with Patel.
Feng Yu was adjudged Man of the Match for his six-wicket haul.
In other matches on the day, Saudi Arabia had little trouble beating Bhutan by six wickets.
After electing to bat first, Bhutan faced a devastating spell by Shoaib Ali, who scalped five for a mere 17 runs, before being bundled out for 97.
Nepal bowlers, Damber Gurung (2 for 35) and Suprit Pradhan (2 for 51) did their best to put brakes on the Saudi innings, but with a small total defend, that was not going to be easy.
Ibrarul Haq was the top-scorer with an unbeaten 34 for Saudi, while opener Inayat Saeed added 25 as Saudi achieved the target in the 18th over.
Kuwait handed Bahrain a 128-run loss after their bowlers gave little room to Bahrain batsmen in the chase.
Ali Zaheer scored a 72-ball 78 (6 fours, 4 sixes) for Kuwait, and with useful cameos by Mohamed Asghar (37) and Mohamed Amin (34), they were 228 all out in the 45th over.
In reply, only Mohamed Sameer put up some resistance, scoring a 66-ball 47 (5 fours, 2 sixes).
Asghar took four wickets for a miserly 13 runs, while teammate Haroon Shahid and Sajid Manzil scalped three and two wickets respectively.
Asghar was adjudged Man of the Match for his all-round performance.
Unbeaten Saudi Arabia are top of the table with 8 points, same as Qatar, but with a match in hand.
Qatar have a two-day break before they play Saudi Arabia on Monday.
BRIEF SCORES: Qatar 339 all out in 48.5 overs (Zaheer Ibrahim 80, Dharmang Patel 76 not out, Kamran Khan 69; Feng Yu 6 for 77) beat China 74 all out in 30.5 overs (Mohamed Nadeem 5 for 22) by 265 runs
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