KUALA LUMPUR: Saudi Arabia turned in a disciplined batting, bowling and fielding display against UAE to win their ACC Trophy opener at the Royal Military College ground in Malaysia. This is the first-ever defeat of UAE in their five appearances in the ACC Trophy.

They were favorites to claim their fifth title in a row. Smart captaincy by Sarfraz and intelligent spell from Shariq, Hussain and Amjad turned the game in the 23rd over, when UAE were on 140 for three.

On a good batting wicket, UAE captain Khurram invited Saudi Arabia to bat first. With the first over loss of Hammad Saeed, who was the topscorer in the last ACC Trophy, they managed to score 228 with a superb display from Khalid Butt, scoring the first century of the tournament in just 96 balls with 5 mighty sixes and 14 fours.

Sarfraz and Sohrab provided vital support to help Saudi Arabia finish at 228 for nine in 50 overs. Khurram finished with 3 for 19 in seven overs.

UAE put on 79 runs in just 9 overs for the loss of one wicket. But it was the Saudis who kept their cool and their disciplined performance finally paid dividends as they recorded the historic win. Shariq took five wickets to claim the Man of the Match title.

Brief scores:

Hong Kong vs. Nepal at Selangor Turf Club

Nepal won by 44 Runs

Nepal: 245 for 7 off 50 overs (P. Lohani 42, S. Vesawkar 48, P. Khadka 81)

Hong Kong: 201 for 9 off 50 overs (B. Hussain 52, B. Das 3-57, B. Regmi 3-41)

Man of the Match: Paras Khadka (Nepal)

Saudi Arabia vs. UAE at Royal Military College

Saudi Arabia won by 29 runs

Saudi Arabia: 228 off 50 overs (K. Butt 110, Sarfraz A. 36; Khurram K. 3-31)

UAE: 199 off 30 overs (Arshad A. 44, Amjad A. 38, Saqib A. 48; Shafiq A. 5-45)

Man of the Match: Shafiq Ahmed (Saudi Arabia)

Malaysia vs. Bahrain at Kinrara Oval

Malaysia won by 33 runs

Malaysia : 267 for 8 off 50 overs (S. Kumar 46, M. Krishnamurthi 60, E. Azis 63)

Bahrain : 234 off 50 overs (I. Sajjad 73, Mirza Y. 36; D. Muthuraman 4-35)

Man of the Match: Eszrafiq Azis ( Malaysia )

Qatar vs. Singapore at Bayuemas Oval

Singapore won by 35 runs

Singapore : 227-9 in 50 overs (C. Suryawanshi 49, C. Janik 33, M. Ali 44)

Qatar : 192 in 44.5 overs (O. Taj 55, T. Sajjad 58; P. Raja 3-39, C. Ruwan 5-46)

Man of the Match: Chaminda Ruwan (Singapore)