Qatar beat Bahrain off the last ball to complete the Asia Qualifier A line-up

Qatar needed the last ball of the group stage to beat Bahrain by two wickets and finish third in the ICC Men's T20 World Cup Sub Regional Asia Qualifier A

Qatar reached 120 for 8 with no balls to spare at the Selangor Turf Club in Kuala Lumpur on Wednesday, beating Bahrain by two wickets in the last match of their programme and closing out a qualifier whose three advancing teams had already been settled.

Bahrain, beaten for the first time in the tournament, were bowled out for 119 inside their 20 overs after Qatar won the toss and chose to field. Qatar were 110 for 7 after 19 overs and needed 10 from the final over to get home.

The defeat cost Bahrain top spot. They finish level with Kuwait on 10 points, with Kuwait ahead on net run rate, and both go through alongside Qatar to the next stage of the Asia qualification pathway.

Bahrain bowled out for the first time

Bahrain had won all five of their completed matches before Wednesday, among them a six-wicket chase of 188 for 7 against Kuwait on 9 October, and had not been bowled out once in the competition.

Against Qatar they lost all 10 wickets inside their allocation and finished on 119, a total that gave their bowlers little to defend.

Qatar's Owais Ahmed was named Player of the Match.

A chase that went to the final ball

Zeeshan Haider top-scored for Qatar with 32 from 31 balls before he was run out, and Zubair Ali had given the chase its start with 12 from six.

Muhammad Asim held the middle order together with 21 from 24, and Shariq Munir's 13 from five balls, a four and a six among them, lifted Qatar when the innings had begun to stall.

Imal Liyanage, 10 from 23 balls at the end of the 19th over, was caught and bowled by Shujaat Rasool for 17 in the last over. Muhammad Ikramullah Khan finished unbeaten on six from nine and Mujeeb ur Rehman on one as Qatar took the 10 runs they needed from Rasool's over.

Bahrain's bowlers nearly defend 119

Abdul Majid was the most economical bowler of the match, conceding nine runs in his four overs and taking two wickets, while Ali Dawood took 2-25.

Asif Javed Basher Ahmed went wicketless but gave up only 13 from four overs, and two run-outs took Bahrain to eight Qatar wickets. Imran Khan's single wicket cost 32.

How the table finished

Kuwait and Bahrain closed on 10 points from six matches apiece, Kuwait first on a net run rate of +5.775 to Bahrain's +2.283. Qatar finished third on nine points from four wins, one defeat and a washout against Mongolia on 12 October.

Thailand beat Bhutan by 37 runs on the final day to finish fourth on six points, with Bhutan, Myanmar and Mongolia completing the group.

Six places on the road to 2028

The ICC staged two sub-regional qualifiers in Malaysia between 5 and 14 October, Qualifier A for seven teams and Qualifier B for six, with 36 matches split between the Bayuemas Oval, the UKM Oval and the Selangor Turf Club.

The top three from each event take the six places at the Asia regional final in 2027, the next step on the qualification path to the ICC Men's T20 World Cup 2028.

Kuwait, Bahrain and Qatar take the three from Qualifier A. Qatar got there despite losing to Kuwait by 58 runs on the opening day, winning four of their five matches after it.

Scorecard: Bahrain 119 all out in 20 overs; Qatar 120 for 8 in 20 overs. Qatar won by two wickets.

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