In their last group match, Hong Kong maintained their own hopes alive by thrashing Malaysia, who had lost all of their matches. Ayush Shukla took 3-24 as Malaysia was limited to 140-7 before Babar Hayat’s devastating 83 off 35 balls saw Hong Kong easily win 12.1 overs.
Hong Kong finished second, ahead of Qatar, but it was still nerve-wracking to watch as Saudi Arabia exerted a lot of pressure on Nepal in their last, rain-shortened match; a win would be enough to move Hong Kong to the bottom. Before Nepal faltered to 15-3 in the third over, Saudi Arabia reached 73-7 off the 8 overs the weather permitted thanks to Abdul Waheed’s 37 off 16 balls as wickets fell.
But as Saudi captain Hisham Shaikh strangely chose not to toss the ball to star bowler Usman Khalid, DS Airee and Gulshan Jha mounted a comeback. After captain Rohit Paudel joined Jha in the middle, Nepal was able to cross the finish line with just four balls remaining after Airee was out on the last ball of the fifth for 17.
Three teams remained in Group B going into the last day of play: Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates, and hosts Oman, who had defeated the top-ranked Emiratis by a comfortable 9 wickets on Monday to take the lead. Nevertheless, the UAE defeated Cambodia in the morning game to guarantee their spot in the semi-finals. As Cambodia was bowled out for 76, young southpaw spinner Ayan Afzal Khan stood out with the ball, taking 3-7. His team’s skipper, Muhammad Waseem, was the star of the reply, scoring a blistering 48 off 18 as they chased the score in just 31 balls.
The outcome ensured the UAE at least a second-place finish, put them in an unbeatable net run rate position, and virtually eliminated Kuwait and Oman from the tournament. Oman had an early two-point lead and a slim edge on NRR, but Kuwait could overturn both with a few balls remaining in the game.
Prior to Ayaan Khan and Rafiullah’s late-inning counterattack, which lifted the hosts to 200-9 by the halfway point of the game, Kuwait had the better of both innings, having reduced Oman to 130-6 in the 17th over. It was a daunting assignment to chase down a 201 total with about an over remaining, but the Kuwaitis looked up to the challenge as openers Clint Anto and Ravija Sandaruwan guided them to 45 without a loss in just 4 overs. The only other Kuwaiti batsmen to reach double digits were Meet Bhavsar and Bilal Taheer, who both fell inside the powerplay as scoreboard pressure took its toll. Zeeshan Maqsood, the home captain, and Aqib Ilyas, his deputy, were the main architects of the collapse; the latter took 3 wickets for only 14 runs in 4 overs, while the former took advantage of the strain to bag 4-29 as Kuwait faltered to 154-9 at the end.
Due to their unblemished record, Nepal will play the Emirates in the first semi-final on Friday. The host team will then play Hong Kong in the afternoon session.
