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Saudi Arabia have completed their third successive victory in the ACC T20 Men’s Challenger Cup by beating Indonesia by 82 runs to claim a place in the semi-finals as winners of Group A.

The deciding round of matches was being played today in Group A at TCG in   Bangkok with Saudi Arabia facing Indonesia in the morning match. Saudi Arabia won the toss and elected to bat. Faisal Khan was back for Saudi Arabia and Shahzaib was making his T20I debut.. Haseeb Ghafoor was rested along with Usman Najeeb.

A quiet first over but Faisal Khan hit the first boundary over the bowler’s head and he followed with a six over deep mid-wicket as 12 came from the second over.  Faisal hit another boundary in the third over and Abdul Waheed hit the biggest six so far as the ball sailed over the sight screen and out of the ground. 40 runs were up in four overs.

The fifty came up two balls later and Faisal was flying now. Abdul Waheed had become the leading run scorer in the tournament and he hit a six and four to take Saudi Arabia to 67 at the end of the powerplay.

The first wicket fell with the total on 84 as Abbul Rasheed was stumped for 32 from 23 balls. The run-rate slowed and Faial was dropped as he approached his fifty. Saudi Arabia were 88 for 1 after 10.

Faisal reached his fifty from 35 balls but his strike rate dropped in the second half of the innings and he was dropped a total of three times. Waqar, Manan Ali and Waji all hit out strongly as 61 came from the last five overs.

Indonesia’s spinners were impressive and Gede Arta had figures of 3 for 35. Faisal Khan was finally caught for 77 from 60 balls with 7 fours and 4 sixes as Saudi Arabia made 185 for 4 in their 20 overs.

Padmarkar Surve had been promoted to open the innings as Indonesia’s most experienced player who had made 63 against Saudi Arabia in last year’s 50 over competition Atif-ur-Rehman had him caught at fine leg for just one so Indonesia were struggling from the start of their innings.

Indonesia lost their second wicket in the fifth over as Shahzaib bowled Ferdinando for nought in his first over in international cricket. Tadarus reached double figures but he was caught behind from Hisham Shaikh’s first ball and Indonesia were 20 for 3 after the first six overs.

Left-arm spinner Usman Khalid has been introduced and he was looking for more wickets after taking 4 for 6 against Bhutan. Abdul Waheed took the fourth wicket in the 10th over as Saudi Arabia were 31 for 4 at the halfway stage.

Indonesia had to try to get as close to the 100 mark to maintain their net run-rate and Saudi Arabia were looking for an early finish to complete their third victory. KC Ramamoorthy scored 27 from 19 balls and Hisham Shaikh took 3 for 16. Shahzaib took two wickets on debut and Ishtiaq Ahmad hit the stumps twice in the 19th over.

Indonesia made 103 for 9 in 20 overs and Saudi Arabia claimed their third victory by 82 runs to win Group A. Faisal Khan was named player of the match on a triumphant return to the team.

Saudi Arabia will face the second placed team from Group B in the semi-finals on Friday