Mohammed Aslam's 5-19 bowls Mongolia out for 42 as Kuwait win inside four overs

Mohammed Aslam took the first five-wicket haul by a Kuwait bowler in men's T20 internationals as Mongolia were bowled out for 42 in Bangi

Kuwait beat Mongolia by 10 wickets in the sixth match of the ICC Men's T20 World Cup Sub Regional Asia Qualifier A on Tuesday, with 99 balls remaining.

Put in to bat at the YSD-UKM Cricket Oval, Mongolia were dismissed for 42 in 14.5 overs. Kuwait passed the target in 3.3 overs without losing a wicket.

Aslam, Kuwait's captain, returned 5-19 from his four overs and was named player of the match.

A first five-wicket haul for Kuwait

No Kuwait bowler had taken five wickets in a men's T20 international before Tuesday. The national best was Aslam's own 4-5 against Iran in Muscat in February 2020, and he has now passed it himself.

The 36-year-old slow left-armer was born in Sri Lanka and has captained Kuwait since 2021. He made his T20I debut against Qatar in July 2019, six months after the side played its first.

Meet Bhavsar finished the innings off with 3-4 from 1.5 overs, so eight of the ten wickets went to two bowlers.

Mongolia never settle

Gandemberel Ganbold top-scored with 21 from 32 balls, holding one end while the innings came apart at the other.

Bat-yalalt Namsrai made 5 from 12 balls and Bilegdemberel Munkhdelger 4 from 8. No partnership lasted long enough to change the shape of the morning.

Yasin Patel took 1-8 from three overs and Adnan Idrees 1-5 from three, and Mongolia were all out with 31 balls of their innings unused.

It was Mongolia's first match of the tournament, and four of their side were playing their first T20I: Uugan-Erdene Batjargal, Bayanbuu Jargaltuya, Munkhdelger and Battulga Tamjidsuren.

The chase lasts 21 balls

Kuwait needed 43 and gave themselves no time to think about it. Ravija Sandaruwan finished unbeaten on 30 from 14 balls.

Idrees, who had bowled three overs for five runs, was 13 not out from 7 balls at the other end. The pair had the runs by the fourth over.

The margin of 99 balls will matter in a seven-team round robin where places are likely to be settled on net run rate, and Kuwait have now won their two matches by 58 runs and by ten wickets.

Two wins from two

Kuwait opened the tournament on Monday with that 58-run win over Qatar, making 199 for 7 before bowling Qatar out for 141 for 8 in reply.

They are the most experienced side in the group, with 45 wins from 83 T20 internationals since their first in January 2019.

Mongolia, by contrast, are among the newest teams in the format, and Tuesday was the first of the six group matches they will play in Malaysia.

Kuwait meet Thailand on Thursday and Bahrain on Friday. Mongolia play Bhutan on Thursday.

The road to 2028

Seven teams — Bahrain, Bhutan, Kuwait, Mongolia, Myanmar, Qatar and Thailand — are playing a single round robin in Malaysia from 5 to 14 October, across Bayuemas Oval, the YSD-UKM Cricket Oval and the Selangor Turf Club.

The ICC has said the top three from each sub-regional qualifier go through to the next stage of the Asia qualification pathway in 2027, on the road to the ICC Men's T20 World Cup 2028.

That is the whole point of a ground in Bangi on a Tuesday morning: three of these seven carry on, and four stop here.

For the smaller sides in the group it is most of the international cricket they will play all year, which is why a match that lasted 110 balls still counts for a great deal.

Scorecard: Mongolia 42 (14.5 overs); Kuwait 43 for 0 (3.3 overs). Kuwait won by 10 wickets.

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