China bowled out for 28 in 50-over match against Saudi Arabia

While three of the Saudi Arabia cricketers crossed the 50-run mark including a century, only three of China batsmen could score runs.

Virat Kohli’s Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) were bowled out for 49 by Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) in Indian Premier League (IPL) 2017. A day prior, Saudi Arabia pulled off a bigger victory against China, bundling the later for a mere 28 in a 50-over match of ICC World Cricket League match. It was a First Division match in the Asia region where Saudi Arabia first posted a gigantic total of 418 and later the bowlers went on to finish China’s innings within 13 overs. While three of the Saudi Arabia cricketers crossed the 50-run mark including a century, only three of China batsmen could score runs. READ: Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) bundle out Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) for lowest-ever score

Winning the toss Gymkhana Ground, Chian Mai on Saturday, Saudi Arabia elected to bat. Openers Abdul Waheed and Imran Arif took the team to a spirited start with an 81-run partnership. However, it was Mohammad Afzal who was the star of the match with a 100-ball 120. Shahbaz Rasheed helped Afzal well during the innings, himself scoring a handy 51 while Shoaib Ali, the skipper was another major contributor with a 41-ball 91. A total of 46 fours and 15 sixes were hit during the innings. Bowling for China, Feng Yu had the best figures with 5 for 89. No bowler could register an economy below 8. Saudi Arabia had already built the pressure on China posting a huge target and China failed to act according to the situation.

China seemed to have a decent start with 20 runs on the board without any loss but the landslide of wickets started after that. Bowlers Imran Arif and Ibrarul Haq came into action, reducing the team from 20 for no loss to 20 for 3 and China never recovered from it. Only three batsmen — Lu Cangcang, Zhuang Zelin and Zhang Peng —could score runs, with 6 being the highest runs scored by a batsman in that innings. Most runs came off extras (13) while seven batsmen scored ducks. Ibrarul, Arif and Shahbaz Rasheed all bagged 3 wickets each.

Arif registered numbers of 4-2-2-3 with an economy of 0.50. Zimbabwe’s 35 all out against Sri Lanka is the lowest score in any One-Day International (ODI). With the 390-run victory, Saudi Arabia bagged 2 crucial points in the first match of the tournament. China on Sunday lost to Kuwait by 293 runs (Duckworth-Lewis Method) while Saudi Arabia will play their second match of the tournament on Monday.

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