Powerful Afghanistan remained unbeaten to bag the ACC Twenty20 Cup 2009. Afghanistan, which stood head and shoulders above the other teams, trounced hosts UAE by 84 runs in the final at the Sheikh Zayed Stadium in Abu Dhabi Monday. After posting an imposing 196-8 the champion bowled out hosts for 112 in 14.3 overs. Mohammed Nabi of Afghanistan won the Man of the Match award for his 73 runs and 4 wickets for just 7 runs. In the match between the losing semifinalists, Oman defeated Kuwait by 23 runs to finish third. Saudi Arabia stood eighth in the 12-team tourney for the elite teams after losing to Malaysia by just 5 runs in the playoff for the 7th and 8th places. After chalking out two impressive victories in its first two matches against Hong Kong and China respectively, Saudi Arabia bumped into two heavyweights Afghanistan and UAE in the tough Group A. After two heavy defeats to eventual champion and runner-up Saudi Arabia lost the chance to finish third in the group when Singapore snatched victory from the jaws of defeat by just two runs in a thriller. Singapore tallied a good total of 181-7 and then restricted Saudi Arabia to 179-8 to pull off a stunning win. Brief scores: Final: Afghanistan 196-8 (M.Nabi 73; Moiz Shahid 2-36, M.Tauqir 3-29). UAE 112 off 14.3 overs (K.Khan 34, N.Aslam 37; S.Zadran 3-28, M.Nabi 4-7). Man of the Match: Mohammad Nabi (Afghanistan) . Semis: Kuwait 115 off 18.1 overs (H.Mirza 33; S.Zadran 2-22, H.Hassan 3-23, S.Shinwari 2-9, M.Nabi 2-9). Afghanistan: 116-2 off 16.4 overs (N.Mangal 51*, M.Shahzad 45). Man of the Match: Nowroz Mangal (Afghanistan). Oman 50 off 15 overs (M.Shahid 5-20, Q.Zubair 2-14, A.Hyder 2-0). UAE 51-4 off 7.1 overs (A.Khan 2-32). Man of the Match: Moiz Shahid (UAE). 7-8 playoff: Malaysia: 201-7 (D.Warusavithan 62, S.Kumar 53; S.Ahmed 3-28, R.Manzoor 2-20). Saudi Arabia 196-8 (K.Meher 36, R.Manzoor 32, M.Nadeem 36; E.Azis 2-16, N.Arifin 3-34) Saudi Arabia 101-6 (Shafiq Ahmed 27, Mohammed Nadeem 29, Moiz Shahid 2-3, M. Tuqir 2-11). UAE 102-1 (m.Iqbal 71*). Saudi Arabia 72 off 18.5 overs. Afghanistan 73-1 in 8 overs. Singapore 181-7 (B.Mendis 36, C.Ruwan 54, C.Janik 29, Shoaib Ali 4-23). Saudi Arabia 179-8 (Kashif Rashid 55, Rizwan mansoor 51, B.Mendis 2-19). Final standings: 1. Afghanistan, 2. UAE, 3. Oman, 4. Kuwait, 5. Nepal, 6. Singapore, 7. Malaysia, 8. Saudi Arabia, 9. Qatar, 10. Hong Kong, 11. Bahrain, 12. China.
