Bahrain picked up its first victory of the tournament after it defeated Argentina by 65 runs at the Kallang Ground on a cooler day in Singapore.

Esteban MacDermott's side won the toss in overcast conditions in Singapore and elected to field first against Yaser Sadeq's veteran Bahrain team who had faced a heavy defeat yesterday to Guernsey.

Adnan Butt and Adil Hanif kept things going for the Gulf nation but the side struggled to make runs and at one point, had it not been for Tahir Dar's 46 not out looked to be struggling to make a defendable total.

Lucas and Matias Paterlini along with Alejo Tissera showed their wicket-taking capabilities in conditions that were far cooler than their native Argentina. Despite not taking a wicket, MacDermott proved to be the most economical of the bowlers by the time his side had dismissed the Bahrainis in 48 overs.

Post-lunch, wicketkeeper Shahzad Ahmed had a busy time behind the stumps – with the Argentine top three all caught behind by the diminutive stump man. With Grant Dugmore, Lucas Paterlini and Pablo Ferguson all out – it was then up to Gary Savage and Martin Siri to bed in for the South Americans.

Despite its best efforts, Argentina couldn't get the runs flowing despite Siri's fine turn with the bat; it was to be Bahrain's day with Tahir not only contributing with the bat but also the ball. The 36-year-old snaffled up six wickets as the Argentina batsmen attempted an aggressive run-scoring charge with the willow, an attempt that failed for the side with the last five wickets falling in less than five overs.

Argentina captain MacDermott admitted the side needed to have performed better in the field: "We should have been more clinical out in the field today, we let things slip when we had them on the back-foot and ultimately I think we let Bahrain score 30 to 40 more runs than we should have.

"We let things get sloppy and allowed the run-rate to creep up when we batted and when it got too much we tried to accelerate our run-making but it didn't work to our advantage.

"I think Martin Siri performed particularly well today, he had a good knock and kept us in the chase till about the 40th over while the Paterlini brothers proved their worth again in the field – so there are some positive aspects to today's loss.

"I think we improved today in comparison to yesterday's performance and we have the potential to do better. We need to remain focused and continue to improve on the basics. If we perform well with the basics then win or lose we know we've given it our best and have improved as a side."