Kuwait have secured their spot in the Asian regional final qualifier for next year's Men's T20 World Cup in West Indies & USA after winning sub-regional qualifier A this week in Qatar.

Qualifier A - confusingly taking place two months after qualifier B - also featured Maldives, hosts Qatar and Saudi Arabia. Maldives finished bottom without a win in the double round-robin group with Qatar only beating the Maldives. Saudi Arabia were unbeaten coming into the final match today, but Kuwait's net run rate was superior meaning that it was essentially a winner takes all game.

Kuwait captain Mohammed Aslam won the toss and asked the Saudis to bat first. After a rapid 48 run opening partnership in 3.4 overs between Abdul Waheed and Faisal Khan (22 from 9 balls), Waheed and Waqar Ul Hassan put on 102 for the second wicket before the latter was out for 44.

Waheed was eventually out in the penultimate over having scored 83 from 58 balls, and the total for Saudi Arabia was a competitive 173-4.

Kuwait lost openers Clinto Anto and Ravija Sandaruwan cheaply, but a 97 run partnership between Meet Bhavsar and Usman Patel in 8,2 overs kept them in the game. A knock of 34 by captain Aslam got them close and they chased down their target with ten balls to spare to win by four wickets and secure their progression in Asian qualifying.

Kuwait won't have long to wait before the regional final, which will be played in Nepal from 30th October to 5th November. Kuwait are in Group B alongside Bahrain, Hong Kong and the UAE whilst Group A will feature Malaysia, Oman and Singapore in addition to the hosts.