Bhutan Cricket - The Official Website

Saudi Arabia played some surging, dynamic cricket to win the 2008 ACC U-19 Challenge Cup. They beat Bhutan by 59 runs at the Prem Oval. It was Saudi Arabia’s first ever international tournament victory.

On a wicket packed with runs, there was just a possibility that Bhutan could have beaten Saudi Arabia; batting first Saudi were reduced to 109 for 4 after 29 overs with their captain and premier batsman, Mohammed back in the tent, run out for 22 going full-tilt for a single to break the hold which the Bhutan spinners had on his team. The game could have gone either way then. (more…)

Bhutan Dilip Subba

An absolutely gripping match, watched by a significant number of Chiang Mai’s cricket fans saw Bhutan beat Maldives by six runs to clinch a place in the ACC U-19 Challenge Cup Final. “It was a shame either side had to lose,” said ACC Development Officer Roger Binny, “both teams played some top-quality cricket.”

The game was in the balance until the very end and it wasn’t until Dilip Subba beat the forward lunge of Ismail Zaahy with just nine deliveries remaining, was the game decided. Until then, thanks to some wonderfully composed strokeplay from the Maldives all-rounder Husham Ibrahim, the game looked like it could was going the other way. (more…)

Saudi Arabia played some dashing cricket to absolutely hammer Bhutan in the ACC U-19 Challenge top of the table clash at the Prem Oval, winning by 6 wickets with 21 overs to spare.

“The boys were good in all departments,” said their coach, former Pakistan batsman Mansoor Akhtar, “especially fielding which makes me very happy. Fielding is very important.”

Mansoor Akhtar only met his team for the first time in Chiang Mai, but he’s impressed by what he’s seen and the team really do look like potential Challenge Cup winners. And they’re loving playing on grass, particularly the Prem Oval surface. “We play all our cricket on concrete,” said Saudi fast-bowler Sufyan, “with mud outfields so we’re very happy to play here. We have been enjoying sliding on the grass for the first time.”
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When the Maldives were good they were very, very good, when they were bad they were very, very bad. Against Bhutan at the Prem Oval their good qualities – dynamic batting, aggressive bowling, sharp fielding – prevailed and they ran out winners by 21 runs.

Bhutan had their chances, many of them, but just couldn’t close out the match. Bowling their overs a little slowly cost them dearly too, as chasing Maldives’s 245, they only had 48 overs in which to do so.

A 128-run-partnership for the opening wicket between Maldives’s captain Ahmed Hassan (76 off 111) and Jilwaz Rasheed (51 off 77) set up the Maldives but Bhutan dropped them both early on in their innings. Seven chances were missed in all and delaying the introduction of the spinners (as well as the 33 wides) not only allowed the batsmen to settle and play their shots with impunity on a hard, true surface but slowed down the over rate considerably. In-depth research by the ACC match referees has shown that regarding wides, dropped catches, lack of spin bowlers – the teams which overcome two of these handicaps tend to win. (more…)

Al-Jazeera sent a crew from Qatar to cover China’s latest international match, and even though China took a beating, Al-Jazeera left with footage that impressed them. China have come a long way in a short time, the best comparison one can make is to point to someone learning Chinese after six months. They won’t win at Mandarin Scrabble against anyone who’s been immersed in the language for longer.

Bhutan are a good team. Led by their captain Jigme Singye, Bhutan beat China by 160 runs in the ACC U-19 Challenge Cup opener at the Prem Oval. Bhutan took advantage of a super batting track to post 280 for 3 off their 50 overs.

In spite of conceding such a big score, China bowled and fielded well. They made the batsmen work for their runs and the fact that only 96 of Bhutan’s 280 came in boundaries, on a blisteringly fast outfield, showed that Bhutan’s batsmen had to run plenty. Left-arm seamer Chen Xi Dong was the pick of the bowlers, ably backed up by Du Jinlong, “an excellent one-day bowler”, his coach Rashid Khan says with pride. (more…)