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Kuwait will be the first ICC Associate Member
country to host an international Twenty20 event |
Kuwait City, Nov 1st 2007: "Twenty20 cricket has arrived and it’s here to stay", so say the fans of this phenomenally popular new cricket format. And now Kuwait gets its very own top-class international cricket tournament: the ACC Twenty20 Cup starting on October 27.
ICC president Mr. Ray Mali with the ACC Twenty 20 Tournament Director Mr.Asad
The World Twenty20 just completed in South Africa, featuring a brilliant final between India and Pakistan, “has been an excellent advertisement for all that is great about our sport,” says ICC President Ray Mali.
Kuwait will be the first ICC (International Cricket Council) Associate Member country to host an international Twenty20 event. The ACC (Asian Cricket Council) of which Kuwait has been a member since 1996 has nominated Kuwait for the honour of hosting the inaugural Asian Twenty20 event.
Five teams from the Gulf will be taking part – hosts Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and UAE - with Afghanistan, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Nepal and Singapore in the ten-nation tournament. All are sending their strongest teams.
Many batsmen in those countries have already established records with their six-hitting in previous ACC tournaments. Spectators at the three grounds Hubara and Unity (Ahmadi) and KEC ground can expect very closely fought games between traditional rivals and all countries have a chance of winning.
Kuwait, packed with all-rounders and hard-hitting batsmen and athletic fielders and along with a varied attack of fast bowlers and spinners is sure to feature strongly in the final reckoning. But no teams can be discounted. The beauty of this format as was seen in the WorldT20 won by India is that one shot, one catch, one ball can make all the difference!
In another first, there will be live ball-by-ball internet radio commentary of matches in the tournament, including the semi-finals and final on www.hearcricket.com TV companies have also expressed an interest in the event.
The ACC Twenty 20 Cup in Kuwait is guaranteed to be as exciting as anything else seen up to now and is already looking as if it will be a crowd-pleasing triumph. Great cricket happens in Kuwait.
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Fixtures for the 2007 ACC Twenty20 Cup
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The fixtures for the 2007 ACC Twenty20 Cup in Kuwait from October 27 to November 2 have been announced, with the stage set for some very intriguing battles. Traditional rivalries are in abundance with five Gulf teams featuring – hosts Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and UAE - along with three teams from south-east Asia - Hong Kong, Malaysia and Singapore. Nepal and Afghanistan are also in the competition fresh from contesting the final of the ACC U-19 Elite Cup.
“The inaugural international Twenty20 at Associate Level represents a big step forward for cricket in Asia and the Kuwait Cricket Association deserve full credit for agreeing to host such a condensed, intense format with so many teams within the space of a week,” says K.K. Haridas ACC Tournaments Executive.
Twenty20 is the format of the future that has been chosen for the 2010 Asian Games. Three non-Test playing sides from Asia will take part in the Asian Games. The bottom two teams in this ten-nation event cannot participate in the 2009 ACC Twenty20 Cup which will act as a qualifier for the Asian Games. |
ACC TWENTY20 DRAWS A CROWD |
The draw for the two groups in the inaugural ACC Twenty20 Cup was made at the ACC Secretariat on August 28 by ACC Development Manager Sultan Rana, ACC Tournaments Executive KK Haridas, ACC Development Officer Iqbal Sikander and KCA Deputy Chief Executive, International Affairs Asad Baig.-------------------------------------------------------------------- 
The tournament runs from October 27 to November 2 this year and will be played on three turf grounds in Kuwait. This new ACC tournament replaces the 5-nation ACC Fast Track competitio |
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