Saudi Arabia flattered to deceive in the ACC Elite Cup here. After pulling the rug from under of hot favorite the United Arab Emirates in the opener on Friday the Kingdom's cricketers lost to neighbor Bahrain by a huge margin. After stunning the more renowned the UAE by 29 runs in Group A opener Saudi Arabia succumbed to Bahrain by 198 runs on Saturday. Put into bat at first Bahrain amassed 335 in 49.2 overs and Saudi Arabia was bundled out for 137 in 33.1 overs. On Friday, Saudi Arabia, with its disciplined batting, intelligent bowling and energetic fielding took advantage of every UAE error to upset the favorite at the Royal Military College ground in Malaysia. This was the first ever defeat of UAE in its five appearances in the ACC Trophy. It was taken for granted as favorites to claim the fifth title in a row. However, Saudi Arabia who had given it a close shave in last ACC Trophy emerged winners through the smart captaincy of Sarfraz and intelligent spell of Shariq, Hussain and Amjad. On a good batting wicket, the UAE captain Khurram overriding on its experience of playing in the Asia Cup recently against world's top class teams, invited underrated Saudi Arabia to bat first. With the first-over loss of Hammad Saeed who was the top scorer in the last ACC Trophy, Saudi Arabia managed to score 228 runs with a superb display of powerplay by Khalid Butt, who scored the first century of the tournament in 96 balls with 5 sixes and 14 hits to the fence. Sarfraz and Sohrab provided the vital support to help Saudi Arabia post 228-9 in 50 overs. Khurram Khan was the most successful bowler with 3 for 19 in 7 overs for the UAE. The UAE went on a rampage scoring 79 runs in just 9 overs with a loss of one wicket. But it was the Saudis who kept their cool and played with determination. Their disciplined but energetic performance finally won them a historic win - the biggest and the best by them in their 7th International tournament ever since Saudi Cricket Center was established in 2003. Shafiq took five wickets to claim the Man of the Match award. Results: Nepal beat Hong Kong by 44 runs. Nepal 245-7. Hong Kong 201-9 off 50 overs. Man of the Match: Paras Khadka (Nepal). Saudi Arabia beat UAE by 29 runs. Saudi Arabia 228-9 (K. Butt 110, Sarfraz A. 36; Khurram K. 3-31). UAE 199 in 30 overs (Arshad A. 44, Amjad A. 38, Saqib A. 48; Shafiq A. 5-45). Man of the Match: Shafiq Ahmed (Saudi Arabia). Malaysia won over Bahrain by 33 runs. Malaysia 267-8. Bahrain 234. Man of the Match: Eszrafiq Azis (Malaysia). Singapore won over Qatar by 35 runs. Singapore 227-9. Qatar 192. Man of the Match: Chaminda Ruwan (Singapore).
