‘18 runs’ can be scored in as little as three deliveries, but what if the team is all out in the space of 18 runs? In their campaign opener of the ACC Asia Cup, Kuwait Under-19 side got bundled out on 49. From 31/0 to getting all out on 49, Kuwait faced a humiliating loss of 274 runs against the Sri Lankan U-19 team.
Chasing 324 in 50 overs, the skipper and the wicketkeeper-batter Meet Bhavsar gave a promising start along with his opening partner Jude Saldanha. The duo added 31 runs on the board in just 5.2 overs before Bhavsar was knocked out by Sadisha Rajapaksa on the individual score of 25. The dismissal of their skipper opened the floodgates and Kuwait’s batting lineup fell like a pack of cards.
The chasing side did not even cross the 50-run mark and lost all their wickets for the score of 49 which includes the retired out middle-order batter Mohammad. The only two players who crossed the double-digit mark were their openers Bhavsar (25) and Saldanha (12).
Earlier, after winning the toss and choosing to bat first at Sharjah Cricket Stadium, the Lankan team put a strong total of 323/5 in 50 overs. Chamindu Wickramasinghe (54), Shevon Daniel (54), Pawan Pathiraja (86), and Ranuda Somarathne (60) scored half-centuries to assist the team reach the enormous total. For Kuwait, Zeeshan Azeem and Habier Ali took two wickets each.
The fragile batting lineup made things tough for Kuwait going forward in the tournament as the massive loss by 274 runs led to a net run rate of -5.480 whereas Sri Lanka bagged comfortable two points to top Group B standing.
