After humiliating Maldives and winning by nine wickets in their group match on Monday, Saudi Arabia is going into their next penultimate march against their old rivals Qatar tomorrow with high confidence.
Saudi Arabia and Qatar played each other just under a week ago in Doha, where Saudi Arabia won by four wickets.
T20 World Cup Cricket Sub Regional Asia Qualifier
Saudi Arabia is in the top spot in the ICC Men’s T20 Cricket World Cup Sub Regional Asia Qualifier Group A 2023.
The team has eight points, and at this stage, it looks like Saudi Arabia is on their way to the 2024 T20 World Cup, co-hosted by the United States and West Indies.
Abdul Waheed Ghaffar is the top run-scorer for Saudi Arabia, with 83 runs at a strike rate of 148. He has struck four sixes and seven fours. Zain UI Abidin has also made 47 runs at a strike rate of 146.
Mohammed Hisham Sheikh has been the best bowler for Saudi Arabia and has picked up eight wickets while bowling at an average of 3 and an economy rate of 3.25.
The qualified teams so far are West Indies (host), United States of America (host), Australia (top eight finish), England (top eight finish), India (top eight finish), Netherlands (top eight finish), New Zealand (top eight finish), Pakistan (top eight finish), South Africa (top eight finish), Sri Lanka (top eight finish), Afghanistan (highest ranked team outside of the teams that have automatic qualification based on the T20I rankings at November 14 2022 cut-off) and Bangladesh (next best on T20I rankings at November 14 2022 cut-off).
In a recent interview with the Arab News, Prince Saud Bin Mishal Al-Saud remarked, “We aim to create a sustainable industry for locals and expats living in the Kingdom and make Saudi Arabia a global cricketing destination”.
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