Taimoor excels as Qatar beat Singapore

Taimoor's all-round show guided Qatar a comfortable five-wicket win over Singapore in the first 50-overs match of their bilateral series at the Asian Town Stadium yesterday. Taimoor picked up 3-28 off 10 overs and later scored an unbeaten 49 off 75 balls, studded with four fours and a six.

Chasing a target of 178 for a win, Qatar romped home with five wickets and 11 overs to spare. Singapore, who won the toss and opted to bat, were bowled out for 177 in 39.3 overs. Besides Taimoor, Awais Malik and Gayaan claimed two wickets each Malik conceding 31 and 38 runs respectively. Nadeem and Inamul Haq chipped in with a wicket each.

Rezza Gaznavi was the highest scorer for Singapore. He made 41 runs off 75 balls 91x4). The others to contribute to the total were Siddhant 33 (36b; 1x4, 1x6) and S Karthik 25 (42 balls; 2x4).

Qatar began their reply in fine fashion as opener Kamran made a fluent 38 off 27 balls with seven hits to the boundary. Captain Inamul Haq contributed a sedately made 37 (57b; 3x4) before Thaimoor stepped up things with his whirlwind knock. Taimoor was named the man-of-the-match. Lady umpire Shivani Mishra of Doha officiated in the match.

BRIEF SCORES

Singapore: 177 all out in 39.3 overs (R Gaznavi 41, Siddhant 33, Karthik 25; Taimoor 3-28, Malik 2-31, Gayaan 2-38) lost to Qatar 180-5 in 39 overs (Thaimoor 49 not out, Inamul Haq 37, Kamran 38) by five wickets.