Five-star Nadeem keeps Qatar's title hopes alive

An amazing bowling effort by Mohammed Nadeem helped Qatar trounce China by 265 runs to keep their title hopes alive in the ICC World Cricket League Asia Region Division One tournament at Gymkhana Club in Chiang Mai, Thailand.
In reply to a formidable total of 339 made by Qatari batsmen, Chinese innings was wrapped up for just 74 in 30.5 overs, mainly due to heroics of left-arm leg spinner Nadeem who had a scalp of 5 for 22 in 8.5 overs.
Nadeem was well supported by Tamoor Sajjad, skipper Inam-ul-Haq, Zahis Ibrahim and Muhammad Tanveer who picked up a wicket apiece.
With only two Chinese batsmen reaching double figures, China suffered their fifth big loss of the series.     
Earlier, China elected to bowl first after winning the toss, but failed to make the best out of their decision against the strong Qatari batting line-up. Opener Kamran Khan (69), Zaheer Ibrahim (80) and Dharmang Patel (76 n.o.) scored half tons to swell the Qatari total. The only successful Chinese bowler and the player of the match Feng Yu bagged 6 for 77 while Zhang Yu Fei took 2 for 54.
Qatar Cricket Association Operations Manager and team manager on tour, Manzoor Ahmad praised Nadeem on his match-winning performance.
“This was an encouraging performance by the Qatar National Team and we are quite optimistic about delivering a good show in the tournament,” Manzoor said after the match.
With yesterday’s victory, the boys in maroon will have to defeat unbeaten Saudi Arabia by a big margin to jump to the top of the points table to secure the title.
The two teams meet on May 1, in the last match of the tournament in Chiang Mai, and the title winner gets promotion to Division 5.
Brief scores:
Qatar: 339 (Kamran Khan 69, Zaheer Ibrahim 80, Dharmang Patel 76 not out; Zhang Yu Fei 2 for 54, Feng Yu 6 for 77)
China: 74 in 30.5 overs (Mohammed Nadeem 5 for 22)