Bahrain lost their game against Hong Kong in the Malaysia T20I tri-series today (March 14), after they scored zero runs in its deciding super over.
Hong Kong came into the game having been beaten by Bahrain in their previous clash in the series last week. They opted to bat first and put 129-7 on the board thanks to some lower-order hitting from Shahid Wasif, and a 29 off 18 balls up top from Zeeshan Ali.
In response, Bahrain put together a promising opening partnership between Fiaz Ahmed and Prashant Kurup, with the pair scoring 30 runs off the first three overs before Yasim Murtaza struck twice in his opening over. From there, Bahrain struggled to keep up with the required run-rate as Ateeq Iqbal and Ehsan Khan turned the screws in the middle overs, and lost wickets regularly.
After a brief flurry from Imran Anwar and Ahmer Bin, Bahrain ended up needing 13 off the final over of the chase. Bin scored four runs from the first two balls, took a single from the third, and partner Ali Dawood was able to get him on strike for the penultimate ball with seven needed. Bin set the stage alight with a maximum off the fifth ball of the over to leave the scores tied. However, attempting to win the game off it's final ball, he was caught by wicketkeeper Zeeshan Ali to take the match to a Super Over.
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Bahrain sent out Bin once again alongside Sohail Ahmed, who had scored 18 runs off 15 balls in the chase. Bin, faced up first and was unable to take a run off the first ball. He was then dismissed by Ehsan from the next ball, leaving Bahrain 0-1. Ehsan struck again with his second ball, bringing the Super Over to an end after just three deliveries, with Bahrain having scored zero runs.
Section Two of the ICC's T20I playing conditions 'Super Over Procedure' reads: "The loss of two wickets shall end the batting team's one over innings."
Despite needing just one run to win, Hong Kong's Babar Hayat took things carefully. He faced two dots off the first two balls of Abdul Majid's over before getting the single to win the game - ending a thrilling contest.
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