Published: Sep 29, 2014, 04:55 PM (IST)
Edited: Sep 29, 2014, 05:31 PM (IST)
Incheon: Sep 29, 2014
The toss of a coin put Kuwait into the Asian Games men’s cricket quarter-finals and sent Maldives crashing out when steady rain made play impossible in their group match on Monday.
Without a ball bowled, Mahmoud Bastaki correctly called “heads” at the Yeonhui Cricket Ground in Incheon, South Korea, to give Kuwait their first win of the competition. “This is our first participation in a huge tournament like (the) Asian Games,” Bastaki said.
“This is the first-ever coin toss I’ve ever had to decide…I called heads and the umpire flipped the coin.” The coin toss made for an unusual scoresheet after the game, with all 22 batsmen finishing on nought not out.
Kuwait finish second in Group B behind Nepal and now go into a last-eight clash against Bangladesh on Wednesday. Rain was still falling in Incheon as hosts South Korea prepared to take on China in Group A.
The rare coin-toss episode may further bemuse South Koreans, who have little awareness of cricket. In their men’s team, several batsmen take their stance with their bats over their shoulders, baseball-style.
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