2023 ACC Men's Challenger Cup

2023 ACC Men's Challenger Cup

Dates	24 February 2023 – 5 March 2023
Cricket format	50 overs
Tournament format(s)	Group round-robin and knockouts
Host(s)	Thailand
Champions	Saudi Arabia (1st title)
Runners-up	Bahrain
Participants	8
Matches	15
Most runs	Padmakar Surve (199)
Most wickets	Ishtiaq Ahmad (12) Abdul Majid (12)
2024 →

The 2023 ACC Men's Challenger Cup was the inaugural edition of the ACC Men's Challenger Cup, hosted by Thailand in February and March 2023. ^[1] The tournament was part of the qualification pathway for the 2023 Asia Cup. ^[1]

Eight teams took part in the tournament, among whom the top two qualified for the 2023 Men's Premier Cup. ^[2] The Asian Cricket Council (ACC) announced the schedule of the tournament on 9 February 2023. ^[3]

Bahrain and Saudi Arabia topped their respective groups before qualifying for the Men's Premier Cup by winning the two semi-final matches, with Saudi Arabia beating Bahrain in the final by 10 wickets. ^[4]

Teams

Group A	Group B
Bahrain   Bhutan   Iran   Maldives	Indonesia   Myanmar   Saudi Arabia   Thailand

Group stage

Group A

Points table

Pos	Team	Pld	W	L	NR	Pts	NRR
1	Bahrain	3	3	0	0	6	4.844
2	Bhutan	3	1	2	0	2	−0.340
3	Iran	3	1	2	0	2	−0.779
4	Maldives	3	1	2	0	2	−2.473

Source: Cricket.com

  Advanced to the knockout stage

Fixtures

24 February 2023 10:00 Scorecard

Bhutan   104 (32.2 overs)	v	Bahrain 105/3 (29.3 overs)
Thinley Jamtsho 30 (34) Sathaiya Veerapathiran 3/15 (6.1 overs)		Junaid Aziz 56 (85) Suprit Pradhan 2/18 (4.3 overs)

Bahrain won by 7 wickets Asian Institute of Technology Ground, Bangkok Umpires: Samad Akbar (Tha) and Durga Subedi (Nep) Player of the match: Junaid Aziz (Bhr)

• Bahrain won the toss and elected to field.

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24 February 2023 10:00 Scorecard

Maldives   157 (31.2 overs)	v	Iran 130 (42.3 overs)
Umar Adam 58 (40) Zahed Afarin 5/22 (8.2 overs)		Zahed Afarin 25 (59) Umar Adam 4/22 (10 overs)

Maldives won by 27 runs Terdthai Cricket Ground, Bangkok Umpires: Anand Natarajan (Sin) and Arif Ansari (Tha) Player of the match: Umar Adam (Mdv)

• Maldives won the toss and elected to bat.

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26 February 2023 09:30 Scorecard

Bahrain   380/6 (50 overs)	v	Maldives 88 (31.3 overs)
Shahbaz Badar 178 (144) Ibrahim Hassan 3/79 (10 overs)		Mohamed Mahfooz 35 (41) Sathaiya Veerapathiran 2/3 (4 overs)

Bahrain won by 292 runs Asian Institute of Technology Ground, Bangkok Umpires: Anand Natarajan (Sin) and Narayanan Sivan (Mas)

• Bahrain won the toss and elected to bat.

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26 February 2023 09:30 Scorecard

Iran   150 (48.3 overs)	v	Bhutan 100 (24 overs)
Abdolvahab Ebrahimpour 37 (69) Tenzin Wangchuk 2/19 (10 overs)		Gakul Ghalley 22 (29) Masood Jayezeh 4/37 (7 overs)

Iran won by 50 runs Terdthai Cricket Ground, Bangkok Umpires: Rahat Ali (Sau) and Durga Subedi (Nep)

• Iran won the toss and elected to bat.

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28 February 2023 09:30 Scorecard

Iran   46 (19.5 overs)	v	Bahrain 50/0 (4 overs)
Abbas Ali Raeisi 14* (41) Abdul Majid 4/12 (6.5 overs)		Sohail Ahmed 30* (12)

Bahrain won by 10 wickets Terdthai Cricket Ground, Bangkok Umpires: Arif Ansari (Tha) and Narayanan Sivan (Mas) Player of the match: Abdul Majid (Bhr)

• Iran won the toss and elected to bat.

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28 February 2023 09:30 Scorecard

Maldives   105 (42.2 overs)	v	Bhutan 106/6 (28.1 overs)
Umar Adam 23 (22) Ngawang Thinley 3/25 (10 overs)		Jigme Singye 24 (49) Leem Shafeeg 4/11 (5 overs)

Bhutan won by 4 wickets Asian Institute of Technology Ground, Bangkok Umpires: Samad Akbar (Tha) and Rahat Ali (Sau)

• Bhutan won the toss and elected to field.

Group B

Points table

Pos	Team	Pld	W	L	NR	Pts	NRR
1	Saudi Arabia	3	3	0	0	6	4.844
2	Thailand	3	2	1	0	4	2.053
3	Indonesia	3	1	2	0	2	0.243
4	Myanmar	3	0	3	0	0	−5.293

Source: Cricket.com

  Advanced to the knockout stage

Fixtures

25 February 2023 09:30 Scorecard

Indonesia   117 (29.3 overs)	v	Saudi Arabia 118/2 (25 overs)
Padmakar Surve 63 (73) Zuhair 3/14 (3.3 overs)		Waqar Ul Hassan 49* (67) Ferdinando Banunaek 1/9 (2 overs)

Saudi Arabia won by 8 wickets Asian Institute of Technology Ground, Bangkok Umpires: Samad Akbar (Tha) and Arif Ansari (Tha)

• Saudi Arabia won the toss and elected to field.

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25 February 2023 09:30 Scorecard

Thailand   332/6 (50 overs)	v	Myanmar 60 (24.3 overs)
Daniel Jacobs 152 (143) Htet Lin Oo 3/58 (7 overs)		Swan Htet Ko Ko 22 (31) Chanchai Pengkumta 3/19 (5 overs)

Thailand won by 272 runs Terdthai Cricket Ground, Bangkok Umpires: Rahat Ali (Sau) and Narayanan Sivan (Mas)

• Thailand won the toss and elected to bat.

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27 February 2023 09:30 Scorecard

Thailand   80 (25.2 overs)	v	Saudi Arabia 81/1 (15.4 overs)
Akshay Yadav 19 (43) Zain-ul-Abidin 3/18 (6.2 overs)		Waqar Ul Hassan 34* (35) Jandre Coetzee 1/5 (3 overs)

Saudi Arabia won by 9 wickets Asian Institute of Technology Ground, Bangkok Umpires: Anand Natarajan (Sin) and Durga Subedi (Nep)

• Saudi Arabia won the toss and elected to field.

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27 February 2023 09:30 Scorecard

Indonesia   300/8 (50 overs)	v	Myanmar 105 (28.5 overs)
Padmakar Surve 128 (91) Nyein Chan Soe 3/38 (7 overs)		Ko Ko Lin Thu 22 (30) Gede Arta 5/23 (6.5 overs)

Indonesia won by 195 runs Terdthai Cricket Ground, Bangkok Umpires: Samad Akbar (Tha) and Arif Ansari (Tha) Player of the match: Padmakar Surve (Idn)

• Indonesia won the toss and elected to bat.

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1 March 2023 09:30 Scorecard

Saudi Arabia   424/7 (50 overs)	v	Myanmar 97 (25.2 overs)
Abdul Manan Ali 102* (80) Aung Ko Ko 2/72 (8 overs)		Ye Naing Tun 29 (31) Ahmed Baladraf 4/30 (8.3 overs)

Saudi Arabia won by 327 runs Terdthai Cricket Ground, Bangkok Umpires: Narayanan Sivan (Mas) and Durga Subedi (Nep)

• Saudi Arabia won the toss and elected to bat.

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1 March 2023 09:30 Scorecard

Indonesia   125 (42 overs)	v	Thailand 127/6 (28.5 overs)
Danilson Hawoe 37 (50) Nopphon Senamontree 5/13 (10 overs)		Phiriyapong Suanchuai 44 (65) Ferdinando Banunaek 3/21 (5.5 overs)

Thailand won by 4 wickets Asian Institute of Technology Ground, Bangkok Umpires: Rahat Ali (Sau) and Anand Natarajan (Sin)

• Thailand won the toss and elected to field.

Knockout stage

Bracket

	Semi-finals					Final
	A2	Bhutan	62 (22.2)
	B1	Saudi Arabia	63/1 (12.3)
						A1	Bahrain	26 (21.1)
						B1	Saudi Arabia	30/0 (4.1)
	A1	Bahrain	169 (45.5)
	B2	Thailand	91 (26.4)

Semi-finals

1st semi-final

3 March 2023 09:30 Scorecard

Bhutan   62 (22.2 overs)	v	Saudi Arabia 63/1 (12.3 overs)
Suprit Pradhan 24 (29) Ishtiaq Ahmad 4/7 (5 overs)		Waqar Ul Hassan 41* (41)

Saudi Arabia won by 9 wickets Terdthai Cricket Ground, Bangkok Umpires: Anand Natarajan (Sin) and Narayanan Sivan (Mas) Player of the match: Ishtiaq Ahmad (Sau)

• Bhutan won the toss and elected to bat.

2nd semi-final

3 March 2023 09:30 Scorecard

Bahrain   169 (45.5 overs)	v	Thailand 91 (26.4 overs)
Sohail Ahmed 64 (115) Jandre Coetzee 4/18 (8 overs)		Robert Raina 28 (41) Zeeshan Abbas 4/33 (7 overs)

Bahrain won by 78 runs Asian Institute of Technology Ground, Bangkok Umpires: Rahat Ali (Sau) and Durga Subedi (Nep)

• Thailand won the toss and elected to field.

Final

5 March 2023 09:30 Scorecard

Bahrain   26 (21.1 overs)	v	Saudi Arabia 30/0 (4.1 overs)
Abdul Majid 7 (42) Atif-Ur-Rehman 4/10 (8 overs)		Waqar Ul Hassan 16* (13)

Saudi Arabia won by 10 wickets Terdthai Cricket Ground, Bangkok Umpires: Durga Subedi (Nep) and Narayanan Sivan (Mas) Player of the match: Atif-Ur-Rehman (Sau)

• Saudi Arabia won the toss and elected to field.

References

1. "Thailand Cricket to host ACC Men's Challenger Cup 2023 in February/March". Czarsportz. Retrieved 16 February 2023.
2. "Men's cricket team prepares for ACC Men's Challenger Cup 2023". Kuensel. Retrieved 10 February 2023.
3. @ACCMedia1 (9 February 2023). "The ACC Men's Challenger Cup 2023 will be held in Thailand. The 50-over-a-side tournament will take place from February 24th to March 5th 2023. The series provides an opportunity for some of Asia's emerging teams to showcase their talent" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
4. "Saudi Arabia, Bahrain win through ACC Challenger Cup". Cricbuzz. Retrieved 5 March 2023.