Manpreet Singh made 96 of Singapore’s 150, and Muhammad Asim took 6 for 18

Muhammad Asim’s figures at the Bayuemas Oval in Kuala Lumpur on Friday, September 4 read 9.2 overs, two maidens, 18 runs, six wickets. Singapore reached 150 anyway, and almost all of it came from one man. Qatar won by eight wickets with 131 balls to spare, and Singapore are out of the ACC Men’s Premier Cup.

Muhammad Asim took six wickets for 18 runs

Asim bowled 9.2 overs, two of them maidens, and finished with 6 for 18. He bowled Kabir Zandani early, took three more as Singapore slid to 51 for 7, and came back to end the innings with the last two wickets to fall. Mujeeb-ur-Rehman had 2 for 21 at the other end.

The collapse itself took nine deliveries. Singapore were 30 for 3 in the ninth over, and by the 9.3 they were 31 for 6, having lost Girin Gune, Sai Venugopal and Harsh Venkataram for a combined nought from six balls. Kabir Berlia went at 51.

Manpreet Singh made 96 of Singapore’s 150

Manpreet came in at No. 4 and batted through nearly all of it. He hit nine fours and five sixes in 113 balls, and when he was caught off Daniel Louis at 146 for 8, Singapore had added 95 for the eighth wicket with Harman Singh, who contributed seven from 39 deliveries.

Take out Manpreet’s 96 and the 14 extras and the other ten Singapore batters made 40 runs between them. Nobody else passed 13. They were all out for 150 in 38.2 overs.

Qatar knocked it off in 28.1 overs

Shahzeb Afridi hit 36 from 27 balls with six fours and a six to put Qatar 63 up inside nine overs. Zubair Ali finished unbeaten on 55 from 79, Zeeshan Haider 42 not out from 47, and the two of them saw it home from 78 for 2. Asim was player of the match.

Saudi Arabia beat Bahrain by 17 in the other Friday game

At the YSD-UKM Cricket Oval in Bangi, Saudi Arabia batted first and were bowled out for 221 in 48.4 overs. Abdul Waheed made 70 from 91 balls and was player of the match. Ali Dawood took 3 for 37 for Bahrain.

Bahrain never got close to the rate. They were 118 for 5 in the 35th over and 158 for 6 in the 45th, and although Imran Anwar finished 49 not out from 59 balls with three sixes, they closed on 204 for 8 from their 50 overs. Bahrain had beaten Hong Kong by 32 runs two days earlier.

Group A is a five-way mess and Group B is not

Two teams go through from each group to the semi-finals. In Group A, Nepal have four points from two games and the other four sides all have two. Malaysia, Hong Kong, Bahrain and Saudi Arabia are separated only by net run rate and by how many games they have left, which is two for Malaysia and Hong Kong and one each for Bahrain and Saudi Arabia.

Group B is tidier. The United Arab Emirates and Oman are both unbeaten on four points, Kuwait and Qatar have two, and Singapore have none from three with one game to play. Their maximum is two, and two teams are already past that, so Friday’s defeat ended their tournament.

The ten teams are in Malaysia until September 12. The side that wins qualifies for the Asia Cup in 2027, which is the whole point of being here.

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