KARACHI - Opener of the touring Kuwait under-19 cricket team Shoaib Muhammad struck 101 in 79 balls to steer his team to a narrow eight-run victory over PIA Academy for visitors' third win of the training tour here at the KCCA ground on Friday.
The Kuwaiti juniors are in the city on a fortnights visit to train through compe ztitionand prepare for the next month's ACC junior qualifying round cricket to be held in Kuala Lumpur. The KCCA has arranged matches for the visitors.
So far the tourist have played five matches against local teams, won three and lost two.Shoaib Muhammad, who has shown consistent batting form in the five matches played so far, was at his brilliant best against the PIA junior's bowlers who were mercilessly punished by the Kuwaiti opener. In his 79 ball innings, he hit five fours and three sixes as Kuwait under 19 taking the strike first scored 210 for seven in 35 overs.

The Kuwaiti junior has shown remarkable overall improvement with each match. After losing their first two matches, they have come up with fine batting and bowing performances to win three matches on the trot. Team's fielding and catching is also a notch above the local teams.
Opener Shoaib Muhammad has remained outstanding and in all the five matches his team had played. His batting has played winning role in each of the three matches his team won. Vicky Suri with some fine sub-fifty scores supported his opener. Again on Friday, he contributed 39 to winner's total. Kuwaiti spinners also impressed with good line and length. Off spinner Adnan Idris' three wickets for 27 were crucial for the team's win against PIA juniors.
Scores
Kuwait juniors 210-7 in 35 overs: (Shoaib Muhammad 101, Vicky Suri 39, Saad Khalid 17, Adnan Idris 11, Muzammal Khalid 11, Zaeem Khan 2/36, Irfanuz Zaman 2/29, Danish Nawaz 2/28)
PIA Academy 202 in 35 overs: (Talha Shafi 56, Zaeem Ghazanfer 43, Sharjeel Khan 34, A Moiz 14, Danish Nawab 13, Adnan Idris 3/27, Faisal Nadeem 1/41, Jasim Shahzad 1/35, Muzammil Khalid 1/41).

KARACHI - The visiting Kuwait under-19 cricketers found their winning form once again when they recorded their second win of the training tour defeating Pakistan Customs Academy by three wickets in a close finish here Wednesday at the TMC ground in Gulberg.
Only a couple of days ago, the visitors had won against a PCB Karachi region Academy.
The 15-member Kuwait under-19 team under manager Asad Beg is in the town to train and prepare for the ACC Junior Qualifying Round Championship which will be played in Kuala Lumpur next month. The visitors since their arrival here have played four matches, lost first two matches, but won next two.
After restricting Pakistan Customs Academy to 192 for nine in given 45 overs, the Kuwaiti juniors reached 193 for seven in the fifth ball of the penultimate over of the exciting match.
Kuwait medium pacer Syed Hassan Ali, off spinner Shahroz and opening batsman Shoaib Muhammad who hammered 67 in 68 balls played crucial winning role for the visitors.
Syed Hassan Ali took three for 49 to make the initial major break through and later off-spinner Shahroz went through the middle and lower order of the home team taking four for 24.
Sadiq 44 and Sami 35 were main contributors to Customs total. The 13-year old Arsalan remained unbeaten 24 when the home innings exhausted its quota of overs. Kuwaiti juniors started confidently its chase of the winning total when the opening pair of Shoaib Muhammad and Muzammal added 56 runs for the first wicket stand. Shoaib Muhammad played an anchor role for his team. With Vicky Suri he added 49 for the second wicket with Suri contributing 22 in 35 balls. At one stage it looked Kuwaiti juniors would reach the total easily but a sudden slump in the middle order made the match exciting with both the teams having even chances to clinch the match.
Shoaib continued batting with responsibility and when he got out hitting five fours and a six, Kuwait Junior were out of woods and reached the winning target in the fifth ball of the 44th over. Syed Mehdi made 24 and Qamar Inayat 18. Yasir Hussain and Farhan took two wickets each. 
Scores:
Pakistan Customs Academy 192 for nine: (Sadiq 44, Sami 35,Arsalan 24 not out, Irfan Lodhi 18,Syed Hassan 3/49,Shahroz 4/24).
Kuwait under-19 193 for seven in 43.5 overs: (Shoaib Muhammad 67,Vicky Suri 22,Syed Mehdi 24,Qamar Inayat 18,Muzammil Khalid 17,Yasir Hussain 2/26,Farhan 2/30,Arslan Hasan 1/32).

Kuwaiti tour aimed at Asian Cup preparation

KARACHI - The representative of Kuwait Cricket Association M Asad Baig said on Sunday that their tour of Pakistan was aimed at the preparation of the Asian Cup qualifying round, taking place from August 18-29 in Kuala Pore where 10 non-Test playing countries would participate in this event. The Deputy Chief Executive International Affairs while talking to 'The Nation' on Sunday said that their team comprised of under-19 players. They were playing against some of the strong sides in Karachi before taking part in the coming cricketing event of the continental.  Kuwait had also reached in the semi-final of this tourney twice in the past. He said that football was the only game in Kuwait with a good infrastructure. "But with the support of the Kuwait government, we also have a good cricketing infrastructure there, and a number of cricket stadiums had been constructed. We are the second biggest cricket team in the Arab states after UAE." The Pakistan based Kuwait cricket official further said that Kuwait had also won several international cricket events of the non-Test playing countries including the inaugural Middle East Cup held in 2003, Gulf Cup in 2004, and others.  "There are around 40 local cricket clubs running in Kuwait for several years from which eight teams will participate in our First Division League Cricket Tournament." He also thanked the International Cricket Council (ICC) to award an inaugural Twenty20 Cup to Kuwait, to commence from October 25 this year, where 10 non-Test playing countries would appear while three teams from this event would qualify for the Asian Games.  The visiting 18-player team comprises: Adnan Idrees, Ali Raza, Qamar Inayat, Muzamil Hussain, A Kamran, Muzamil Khalid, Saad Khalid, Faisal Nadeem, Jasim Shahzad, Haroon Shahid, Haseeb-ur-Rehman, Shehraz Tahir, Danish Mehmood, Mohammad Arsalan, Syed Hassan Ali, SA Mehdi, Vicky Suri and Shoaib Mohammad. Coaches: Tariq Rasool Shah & Tahir Khan

KARACHI - Kuwait U-19 cricket team won its second tour match on Sunday after defeating PCB Blues by 99 runs at PCB academy. 
The batting line of the host side failed to reach the target.
The visiting team won the toss and decided to play first. They produced 208-9 in the allotted 35 overs. Bangladesh born Shoaib Mohammad batted superbly and provided his side a fantastic innings of 63 runs, followed by the Indian SA Mehdi who scored 46 while A Rehman made 27. 
Zohaib Sheraz grabbed 3-37 while Shoaib Khan took 2-30 wickets for the home side. 
PCB Blues were restricted to an ordinary score of 109 in 27.5 overs. Jehangir Shah scored 40 while A Jabbar made 20. 
Meanwhile, Pakistan based Saad Khalid and Faisal Nadeem captured 4-16 and 4-42 respectively while Muzamil Khalid got 2-26 for the visiting and winner team.

KARACHI - Kuwait under-19 cricket team, now here on a training tour, lost its opening match by 42 runs to KCCA Zone V here on Saturday at Landhi Gymkhana ground.
The visitors scored 241 in its turn after the host team had posted high 284 for seven in its innings.
The Kuwaiti junior take rest on Sunday and play the second match on Monday at UBL ground against the host juniors.
The Kuwaiti juniors are undertaking the tour to prepare for the Asia Cup qualifying round which will be played later next month at Kuala Lumpur.
SCORES:
KCCA Zone V 284-7: (Moiz 72,Waseem 73 not out, Sohail 53, Jassim 2/39,Mehdi 2/55, Muzammil 1/50).
Kuwait under-19 241: (Shoaib 57, Abdul Rehman Mani 31, Saad Khalid 30)

KARACHI - Kuwait Under-19 cricketers will arrive in the city on Thursday night and will start their two-week training tour on Sunday instead of Friday, according to the revised programme of the tourists available here Thursday.
The KCCA, which is organising matches for the visitors, has announced that the tour would start Sunday instead of Friday because the team would be landing here late in the night.
The tourists will be playing seven training matches against local cricket academies as part of their training and preparation for the coming Asian Under-19 Cricket Tournament which will be played at Kuala Lumpur next month.
The match programme drawn for the visitors would remain unchanged except for the opening match which was to be played at UBL ground on Friday. This match has been shifted to August 8.
The Kuwaitis would play some of the strongest local academies including Karachi Region Cricket Academy.

Following is tentative match programme of the Kuwaiti juniors.
July 29: v Karachi regional Academy at PCB Academy ground.
July 30: v UBL Academy at UBL ground.
August 1: v Customs Academy at PCB Academy ground /TMC Ground.
August 3: v PIA Academy at KCCA stadium.
August 5: v KPT Academy at PCB Academy ground.
August 7: v A.O. Academy at Asghar Ali Shah ground.
August 8: v UBL Academy at UBL ground