(MENAFN- The Peninsula) By Chinthana Wasala / The Peninsula
Two brilliant knocks from Dharmang Patel (93) and Khurram Shahzad (94) were the highlights as Qatar pulled off a convincing win to begin their ICC World Cricket League - Division 5 campaign on a convincing note, beating Cayman Islands by 93 runs yesterday.
Making their World Cricket League debut after beating Saudi Arabia in a virtual final at the ICC Asia Qualifier in Thailand, Qatar proved that they are a force to be reckoned with, following yesterday's massive win.
After their batsmen posted a seemingly unreachable target for the western Caribbean nation, a collective effort from Qatari bowlers assured skipper Inam Ul Haq's boys lead the points tally on the opening day of the tournament.
Qatari captain lost the toss and was invited to bat on a typical batting pitch at Willowmoore Park in Benoni, South Africa and the Al Annabi players grabbed the opportunity to put a massive total on the board in their allotted 50 overs.
The Qatari openers failed to pull off a decent start, with both Faisal Javid khan (10) and skipper Ul Haq (6) departing early, but the Patel joined Shahzad to lift Al Annabi to a strong position.
Shahzad spent 116 deliveries for his knock of 94 which included nine boundaries and two sixes in it. Patel's knock of 93 came in 103 deliveries.
Man-of-the-Match
Dharmang Patel
Patel hit 11 boundaries and three over it and the two of them were involved in a massive 162-run stand for the third wicket.
Both of them were victims of nervous 90's and were out in two consecutive deliveries in the 30th over.
Towards the end of the Qatari innings, another useful partnership was built by Tamoor Sajjad and Kamran Khan. Sajjad played aggressively and hit five boundaries and two sixes in his 36-ball knock of 49. Khan reached his half century of the last ball of the Qatari innings, scoring 12 runs in the over, including a six off the penultimate delivery.
Caymen Islands batsmen could not deliver what they were asked for. Wickets fell at regular intervals but there was some resistance towards the end of the batting line up. Omar Willis (51) and Conroy Wright (74 n.o.) were the top scorers in the Caymen Islands innings.
Imran Ashraf (2 for 27) was the pick of the bowlers for Al Annabi side while Awais Malik, Kamran Khan, Iqbal Hussain, Khurram Shahzad and Zaheer Ibrahim bagged a wicket apiece as Caymen Islands finished off with 250 for 8 in the 50 overs.
With yesterday's win, Qatar leads Group A which also sees Italy, Guernsey and Cayman Islands in contest while Jersey, Vanuatu, Ghana and Germany have been drafted in Group B.
Al Annabi will play against Italy today and will meet Guernsey in their final group match on Wednesday.
The second round matches will be played on the next day, followed by the final of the tournament on September 9.
Chief scores:
Qatar: 343 for 7 (Khurram Shahzad 94, Dharmang Patel 93, Tamoor Sajjad 49, Kamran Khan 50 n.o.; Troy Taylor 2 for 60)
Cayman Islands: 250 for 8 (Sacha De Alwis 32, Omar Willis 51, Conroy Wright 74 n.o.; Imran Ashraf 2 for 27)
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