Kuwaiti national team makes its debut - domestic season kicks off (5 Dec 1999)

5 December 1999

Kuwaiti national team makes its debut - domestic season kicks off

On almost every front cricket at the non-Test level is establishing new firsts - this was the case in August/September when the Kuwait national cricket team played their first ever matches, touring Pakistan. (My apologies for not including this in the last edition).

In what was a useful build-up for next month's inaugural Gulf Cup the Kuwaitis won four matches and lost six.

Faisal Al Marzouk, the only Kuwaiti-born player in the squad, was the captain, while Assad Baig was the manager. Salmiya batsman Mohammed Nawaz became the first batsman to hit a century for the Kuwait national team, against the Rawalpindi District Cricket Association.

The results: (1) vs. Sindh Police at National Stadium, Karachi on 21/8/99 Sindh Police 265-9 (40 overs) (Gohar Ali 55, Nadeem Tareq 45; Rifat Khan 3-34, Faisal Malik 2-52, Amin Ihsan 2-51, Hanees Babu 2-32) Kuwait 168-6 (Soud Qamar 32, Hanees Babu 38; Hameed Ali 2-32) Sindh Police won by 97 runs.

(2) vs. Karachi Gymkhana at Karachi Gymkhana grounds, Karachi on 22/8/99 Karachi Gymkhana 131 all out (Omair 27, Arshran Agha 29; Rifat Khan 2-21, Soud Qamar 2-17) Kuwait 135-3 (26.5 overs) (Faisal Malik 30, Soud Qamar 27n.o., Mohammed Nawaz 27n.o.) Kuwait won by 7 wickets

(3) vs. Al Haris Al Haris 203-7 (30 overs) (Imran Qazi 36, Junaid Iqbal 39, Mansoor Akthar 44; Rifat Khan 2-30, Amin Ihsan 3-53) Kuwait 164-9 (30 overs) (Shahid Zaman 33, Mohammed Nawaz 37) Al Haris won by 39 runs

(4) vs. A.O Clinic Kuwait 215-9 (40 overs) (Shahid Zaman 46, Soud Qamar 51, Zagar Anwar 34; Mohammed Shah 2-45, Sajid Khan 2-26, Asif Butt 2-17) A O Clinic: 207-3 (Iqbal Saleem 72, Fahadullah 109; Shahid Zaman 2-38) Kuwait won by 8 runs

(5) vs. Model Town at Lahore Model Town 268-9 (40 overs) (Imran 35, Shabir 46, Haroon 32; Khalid Yameen 3-48) Kuwait 189-9 (Mohammed Nawaz 37, Hanees Babu 72; A.Hameed 2-24, Rizwan 2-30, Imran Farhat 2-9) Model Town won by 79 runs.

(6) vs. Saga Sports at Sailkot Saga Sports 222-8 (40 overs) (Faisal N. 48, Imran 39; Mohammed Nawaz 3-36, Rifat Khan 2-33) Kuwait 223-9 (Mohammed Nawaz 53, Hanees Babu 47; Inam-Ul-Haq 3- 36) Kuwait won by 1 wicket.

(7) vs. Lahore Gymkhana at Lahore on 29/08/99 Lahore Gymkhana (40 overs) 229-4 (Nisar Zaman 51, Imran Bucha 39, Tariq Zaman 72; Zagar Anwar 2/22) Kuwait 172 all out (Hanees Babu 59, Shahid Zaman 28, Zagar Anwar 31; Bazeed Khan 3-41) Lahore Gymkhana won by 57 runs.

(8) vs. Islamabad XI at Islamabad Islamabad XI 192 all out (Nassir 24 n.o., Naveed Ahmad 20; Zagar Anwar 2-33, Amin Ihsan 3-24, Sanaullah Butt 2-34) Kuwait 137 all out (Shahid Zaman 26, Haneez Babu 39; Azhar Mehmoud 2-17, Amjad 2/22, Nassir 3/30) Islamabad XI won by 55 runs.

(9) vs. Rawalpindi District C.A. XI RDCA XI 288-3 (Farukh Sultan 108, Salman Shah 100, Yasir 43 not out; Amin Ihsan 2-61) Kuwait 231-9 (Mohammed Nawaz 104, Amin Ihsan 31) RDCA won by 57 runs.

(10) vs. REDCO at Islamabad REDCO 135-3 (20 overs) (Rifatullah 38, Mujeeb 29) Kuwait 140-5 (18.5 overs) (Mohammed Nawaz 65, Hisham Asad 22, Rifatullah 2-23, Abbas 2-9) Kuwait won by 5 wickets.

On the domestic front, the traditional curtain raiser of the season, the Hubara Six-A-Side tournament was held on 10th September at Ahmadi Cricket Grounds. Evergreen Al Sayer won a nail-biting final against Taurus in an event which attracted 22 teams.

The league competitions have been going for about a month and this page will hopefully bring you an update in the next edition.

The top league this season is the KBRC 50 over league held at the KCC grounds. Eight teams rated as the top in Kuwait are vying for honors. They are: Evergreen Al Sayer, Hubara, Unity, Gulf Spic, Salmiya, Taurus, Bombay Stars and Al Ahlia. The top two will play in the finals.

Two other 30 over leagues, also featuring the top teams have been announced and in fact a few matches have been played already. They are the Haliburton Classic league staged by Hubara Cricketers and the Gulf Bank Super league hosted by Unity Cricketers.

Salmiya CC, Hubara, Gulf Spic and Al Sayer are the pick of the teams this season. Of the players in these top outfits, Kuwait internationals Mohammed Nawaz of Salmiya and Hanees Babu of Al Sayer are the batsmen to watch. They were the most prolific scorers in the recent tour of Pakistan.

There are four other leagues for regulars, two for under 19's, one for under 15's and five for veterans that have been announced.

Thanks: Thomas Thurairatnam