Sterling bowling and an immaculate opening stand between Abdulla Shahid and Ahmed Hassan saw Maldives register their second win on a trot at the ACC Elite League. After beating Bhutan by 3 wickets on Saturday, Maldivian players were all pumped up to face a new challenge in the form of Bahrain. Although Captain Afzal Faiz lost the toss, he would not rue it, as Maldives bundled out Bahrain for 130 runs in 47 overs. Ace spinner Mahfooz did his magic with the ball, taking 4 wickets for just 16 runs in 8.3 overs. He was unplayable, having Yasser Nazir and Anasim Khan clean bowled, and top scorer Mirza Baig and Azeem ul Hag caught in the deep. Each time Bahrain started to string together a partnership Mahafooz was there to nip it in the bud. All Maldives bowlers were in amongst the wickets with Hassan Ibrahim Abdulla Shahid, Shafee Saeed, Mihusan Hamid and Ahmed Hassan taking one wicket each. Ahmed Hassan had a particularly good spell giving away only 19 runs from his 10 overs.
After Maldives batting nerves against Bhutan, the Bahrain players would have hoped to strike early after the break. However, Abdulla Shahid and Ahmed Hassan had other ideas. They dug in deep from the first ball, and had the whole run chase mapped out in their minds. Abdulla Shahid though could not resist, but play his usual game, playing his fluent strokes all over the park. He went on to score 57 runs in 62 balls which included 3 sixes and 3 fours. Shahid once again proved that he was one of the best all-rounders in the region. Ahmed Hassan was rock solid in the first match against Bhutan, and he continued from where he left today. Quietly making up the runs and holding Maldives batting together. Abdulla Shahid and Ahmed Hassan put on an 81 run partnership to ease Maldives target. Abdulla Shahid was caught in the 18th over and it was left for Ahmed Hassan to anchor the innings. He went on to make an unbeaten 41 runs and will surely go down as the most solid batsmen’s of his generation. Vice Captain Shafraz Jaleel put in a quick cameo after Mohamed Rishwan departed. Shafraz made 26 runs to see Maldives home in the 39th over. Maldives lost 2 wickets in the process.
Mohamed Mahafooz was chosen as the man of the match for his devastating spell of spin bowling.
A great victory indeed, made possible by a great team effort led by the young stalwarts of Maldives cricket and a very determined all-rounder.
