http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Germany-c2904 in Cricket League Division 8
Middle-eastern teams continue to move ahead in the cricketing ranks, after Kuwait recorded a win in division eight of the World Cricket League, which puts them through to the next tier of the associate ranks.
The expat population in the country has had a great interest in the game, which has grown tremendously in the last two decades with the International Cricket Council (ICC) expansion programme.
The governing body of the game is very keen on improving the standard of the game at the Associate level, hence various tournaments at different levels of the World League are held to encourage players and improve the popularity of the game further.
In an important clash at this level the Kuwaitis recorded a six wicket win over Germany in the final of the Pepsi ICC World Cricket League Division Eight at the Hubara ground.
Kuwait began their pursuit of the relatively low target of 164-runs positively. They added 58-runs for the opening wicket and then kept the momentum going and succeeded in overhauling the target eventually.
The star of the show for them was 31-year-old http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Irfan-c64444 Bhatti, who was later declared Player of the Tournament for his 202-runs in the tournament.
The match winning performance came from man-of-the-match Saud Qamar who followed up his five for 28 with a solid innings of 45 not out.
The finalists had many reasons to celebrate as they have now moved up a tier, and have been bracketed with the likes of http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Nigeria-c2970 in division seven. The Division seven event is set to take place next May in Botswana.
Teams that were relegated from division eight included http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Bahamas-c2846. These sides were also in action to determine the final tournament standings.
Surinamese defeated http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Gibraltar-c2906 by seven wickets in the fifth/sixth place play-off, while Bhutan toppled Bahamas by two wickets in the seventh/eighth place play-off.
Kuwait meanwhile had a memorable tournament as they remained unbeaten throughout and were the clear favourites going into the final game against Germany.
The Europeans won the toss and their captain Asif http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Khan-c71319 decided to bat first.
However his team struggled against the off-breaks of Saud Qamar, with the 30-year-old claiming five scalps buoyed by the presence of his local crowd.
It was then up to Qamar to steer his side to victory, with the right-handed batsman making 45 not out at the close of Kuwait’s innings and sealing the middle-east nations’ first-ever trophy.
Qamar gave another resolute performance with the bat, and was instrumental in a key partnership with Player of the Tournament Bhatti, who added 39-runs to the total.
The elated Kuwaiti captain http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Hisham-Mirza-c63244 was excited by his team's performance and said that his team thoroughly deserved the win.
“To win this tournament is simply fantastic especially as it is on our home turf. We are delighted to win what is the first trophy Kuwait cricket has won in its history.”
Mirza added that his side were very excited about moving up a division in the World Cricket League and were eager to prove themselves at that level.
“I am extremely pleased with the way my team has performed in this tournament and we are all looking forward to the tournament in Botswana which I am sure will offer us some new challenges.”
He received the trophy from ICC Board Director and http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Mustafa-Kamal-c78122 who appreciated the effort of both teams and backed them in their pursuit of gaining further ground and excelling at the higher levels of the Associate members competitions.
Meanwhile, Germany captain Khan was also satisfied with his team's performance.
“I think our spinners really troubled the teams here in Kuwait and it’s unfortunate we’ve not managed to win today but to know we’re heading to http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Botswana-c2857 is a great feeling.”
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