抖阴短视频

KATHMANDU: 抖阴短视频鈥檚 national cricket team beat Qatar by seven wickets on Saturday, making a mark at the ongoing Asian Cricket Council鈥檚 Premier Cup 2023 in Nepal.

The ACC tournament started on April 18 in the Nepali capital, Kathmandu. The final will be played on May 1.

In its first appearance on Thursday, 抖阴短视频 lost to Malaysia, but in the second match at the TU International Cricket Ground, opener Abdul Waheed scored a century against Qatar, to make sure they open the winning account in style, after which they outplayed the Gulf neighbor in all departments.

With matches against ODI nations Nepal and Oman to follow, Saudis still have a chance to book a spot in the semifinals of the tournament, as 10 teams will battle out for a spot in the 2023 Asia Cup in Pakistan.

In their remaining group-stage matches the Saudis will face Nepal on April 24 and Oman on April 26. The teams in Group B are the UAE, Hong Kong, Kuwait, Singapore and Bahrain.

鈥淲e have a lot of talent and we have the skillset. We will go match by match and then based on that situation, we will look into the scenario later on in the tournament,鈥� Saudi captain Hisham Sheikh told Arab News before the match with Qatar.

鈥淲e don鈥檛 take any team easily.鈥�

抖阴短视频鈥檚 emergence in the Asian cricket circuit is quite new and the team鈥檚 rise has been a significant one. Associate nations rose their eyebrows when Saudis outplayed all the opponents on the course to win the ACC Men鈥檚 Challenger Cup held in Thailand in late February, by which they qualified for the ACC Men's Premier Cup in Nepal, which is the second tier of the qualifier pathway for the Asia Cup.

As the team will take on the host, Nepal, on Monday, Sheikh expects a huge turnout and say the team is already looking forwards the game.

鈥淭hat is one experience our boys are always waiting for because we haven鈥檛 seen such atmosphere and spectators before this,鈥� he said.

鈥淚鈥檝e already told my boys to enjoy the game and take it with their chins up.鈥�

Experts and cricket fans are thrilled. Irish commentator Andrew Leonard told Arab News he was excited about the talent and plans in place in the Saudi cricket scenario.

鈥淚 had a big, long chat to head coach Kabir Khan before the start of the tournament and I think the word 鈥榮leeping giant鈥� would be a good way to describe them,鈥� he said. 鈥淎 number of other sports have seen heavy investment and there鈥檚 lots of talk that that is going to be the the case for cricket going forward.鈥�

Saudis are ranked 33rd in the World T20I rankings. The International Cricket Council鈥檚 move to award T20I status to all member nations has seen an increase in cricketing activity among associate members. This and the Saudi government鈥檚 positive approach in developing the game, is helping its cricket raise forward.

鈥淭hey鈥檝e got a long-term plan in place. They鈥檙e bringing cricket into the schools and they want to develop it over,鈥� Leonard said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 generational. You build up a good generation of cricketers and then you reap the rewards in 10 to 15 years.鈥�

Mausam Mandal, grounsdmen working at the TU Cricket Stadium, was happy to see Saudis play cricket in Nepal for the first time.

鈥淪audi is giving great performance on the field, so it is good for their exposure,鈥� he said.

鈥淭hey have come here and are using the chance to play ACC Premier Cup well. It is good for Nepal that new teams are playing.鈥�

Deepkiran Subedi, a Nepali cricket fan who witnessed the team鈥檚 win over Qatar, said he was sure Saudis would outplay the opponent as they showed really good performance.

鈥淎s a cricket fan, to see new countries trying to make their name feels good,鈥� Subedi said.

鈥淲e have heard name of Saudi in football. Now we are looking at them playing cricket.鈥�