Sunday 05 / May / 2024
Muscat :Canada, Nepal, UAE, and Bahrain got their first points on board on the opening day of The ICC Men’s T20 World Cup Qualifier A, supported by Dream11.
Canada won by 118 runs
Put in to bat first, Canada's Rayyan Pathan made the team's intentions clear from the very first ball of the match, smashing a six to set the ball rolling in the 2022 ICC Men's T20 World Cup Qualifier A. Debutant Matthew Spoors wasn't to be left behind as Canada raced to 64/0 in the Powerplay.
The carnage continued even after the fielding restrictions were lifted with both Pathan and Spoors got to their half-centuries in 32 and 34 balls respectively. Canada were going at almost 10 runs per over for 15 overs before Huzaifa Mohammed finally broke the opening stand of 149, dismissing Pathan for a 44-ball 73.
Pathan's wicket was the only respite for Philippines as Spoors and captain Navneet Dhaliwal (26* off 11) took the attack to the bowlers in the death overs. Spoors finished on 108* off 66 balls, the highest score by a debutant in T20Is, as Canada posted 216/1 in 20 overs.
Philippines' chase got off to a poor start as they lost Richard Goodwin and captain Jonathan Hill in the first two overs, which forced them to go into a shell. Canada were accurate with the lines and lengths as well, and did not allow Philippines to break loose. Daniel Smith was their top run-scorer with a run-a-ball 34 as Philippines batted through the 20 overs to post just 98/5 and fell short by 118 runs.
Player of the Match Matthew Spoors said: “Rayyan and me knew our roles well. We had a few practice games here and we have bonded well and that has worked well.
“I am happy. It was a good win, and we hope to continue the form in the upcoming games.”
NEPAL VS OMAN – Nepal won by 39 runs
Oman made full use of the hot and sunny conditions at home after winning the toss and opting to field first.
Bilal Khan put Nepal on the backfoot with a wicket apiece in his first two overs. Aarif Sheikh was the glue that held the batting together with Nepal losing wickets at regular intervals. He strung important partnerships with Lokesh Bam and Sandeep Lamichhane. Sheikh was dismissed off the last ball of the innings for a 37-ball 38. Khawar Ali was the pick of the bowlers and finished with figures of 3/30, restricting Nepal to 117/8.
In reply, Oman lost three wickets in the Powerplay, including that of their star batter Jatinder Singh. His run-out triggered a mini-collapse as Oman lost three wickets in the next three overs and were reduced to 35/6 at the end of nine overs.
Naseem Khushi was the only batter to get to double-digits for Oman, scoring an 18-ball 24, but could not save them from a loss in their first game as they were bowled out for 78. All the bowlers chipped in with wickets for Nepal, with Kamal Airee leading the way with 3/15 in three overs.
Reflecting on a disappointing loss, Zeeshan Maqsood said: “We didn’t click as a batting unit. No one could stay at the wicket for long and losing wickets at regular intervals made it very difficult. We will come back strongly tomorrow [vs Canada] and take forward the positives from this match.”
UAE win by 18 runs
UAE were in early trouble after opting to bat against Ireland. They lost the experienced Chirag Suri in the very first over before fellow opener Muhammad Waseem followed him to the pavilion.
Walking in at No.3, Vriitya Aravind put on a one-man show and single-handedly dragged UAE to a competitive total. He stitched a vital 38-run stand with Rohan Mustafa to bail the team out of trouble.
Aravind was on 58 off 50 at the end of the 16th over with UAE at 100/4 before he teed off in the final four overs. He smashed the bowlers to all parts and added 39 more runs in 17 deliveries to finish on 97* off 67, helping UAE reach 157/5.
With a competitive target to scale, Ireland began with intent, taking the UAE bowlers to the cleaners. Paul Stirling looked in his usual terrific form, pairing with Andrew Balbirnie to race to 50/0 in six overs. But things rapidly spiralled out of control when Karthik Meiyappan removed Stirling for 32 on the first ball of the seventh over.
He then dismissed Gareth Delany in his next over for 3 and then cleaned up Simi Singh in the next for 4. Having slipped to 66/4 from 50/0, Ireland needed a solid stand to boost them.
The Ireland middle order did play some wonderful shots, but the UAE bowlers ensured that Ireland were kept in check. Shane Getkate (17) and Lorcan Tucker (25) tried to revive the Irish innings but the UAE bowlers had the last laugh. In the end, the target proved too daunting as Ireland were restricted to 139/9, losing the match by 18 runs.
Bahrain won by 6 wickets
Asked to bat first by Bahrain, Germany openers Vijay Shankar and Justin Broad provided a solid platform with a 29-run opening stand. However, the wicket of Broad brought three more in quick succession, with Waseeq Ahmed getting two in two.
At 55/4, Shankar and skipper Venkatraman Ganesan came to Germany's rescue with a 44-run partnership for the fifth wicket. Just when the two looked settled at the crease heading into the final six overs, the introduction of Junaid Aziz turned the game on its head.
Aziz picked up three wickets in four balls, including the wicket of Ganesan, before Shankar departed after a fifty. Aziz returned to clean up the tail and finished with figures of 5/5 as Germany folded for 106, losing their last six wickets in 14 balls.
Bahrain had a horror start to their chase, losing two wickets in the first over. At 2/2, they looked in all sorts of trouble but Sarfaraz Ali and Junaid Aziz kept them afloat.
Sarfaraz not only steadied the ship but hit some lofty shots to chip away at the modest target. Muslim Yar finally dismissed Junaid in the 10th over. With more than half of the target already scaled, Sarfaraz, now partnered by David Mathias, continued to plunder runs.
By the time Germany managed a breakthrough, Bahrain needed only 16 more runs to win – they knocked that off quickly to secure a six-wicket win with 26 balls to spare. Sarfaraz finished with a brilliant 38-ball 69*, studded with four fours and six sixes.
