Nepal, UAE, Hong Kong China, and Oman off to winning starts on Day One of the T20 World Cup Qualifier
Nepal’s opener Kushal Bhurtel’s 74(48) and the UAE’s Ali Naseer’s 48(26) * and 1-20 led their teams to victories against Singapore and Bahrain in the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup Final Asia that began today in Kathmandu, Nepal.
In the afternoon matches, Zeeshan Maqsood shone with both bat and ball in Oman’s win against Malaysia and Martin Coetzee’s 81(48) gave Hong Kong, China the foundation of their victory against Kuwait.
Singapore chose to bat first after winning the toss and went through a flying start despite losing an early wicket. Captain Aritra Dutta was bowled by Karan KC in the second ball of the innings, leaving Singapore’s score at 0/1 in 0.2 overs. Still, then a fearless innings of 46(30) from Rohan Rangarajan, which consisted of 9 fours and a six, fired Singapore to 51/1 in the powerplay.
Singapore lost three wickets in quick successions, as Sandeep Lamichhane took 1 wicket and Gulshan Jha took 2 wickets, reducing Singapore to 55/4 in 8 overs.
Singapore lost yet another wicket in 10.2 overs putting 70 on the board when Janak Prakash was trapped lbw by Lamichhane for run-a-ball 7. But then Aryaveer Chaudhary and Manpreet Singh took the innings forward with a 48-run partnership before Manpreet fell to Karan KC for a personal score of 24 in 16.3 overs.
In the next over, Abinash Bohara bowled a double wicket maiden, leaving Singapore at 124/8 in 18 overs. In the last over of the innings, Bohara got his third wicket, finishing on 3/43, as Singapore put up 145/9 on the board.
Nepal got into the chase straight on with a 14-run over to start the second innings. At the end of the powerplay, Nepal were 58/0 with Bhurtel standing at 37(21) * and Sheikh at 19(15)*. The duo added an 84-run partnership before Aasif Sheikh was bowled by Akshay Puri in 9.1 overs, shortly after Bhurtel had completed his half-century.
Skipper Rohit Paudel got into the business straightaway with a four and a six off of Puri’s remaining five balls of the over. Paudel and Bhurtel showed a great display of running between the wickets along with their boundary-hitting abilities in their partnership of 57 runs.
Bhurtel lost his wicket in 16.2 overs off Anantha Krishna’s bowling after getting caught at the boundary line when Nepal needed six to win. Kushal Malla, the incoming batsman following Bhurtel’s dismissal, hit a six off of the first ball to complete Nepal’s chase.
The fiery innings of 74(48) by Kushal Bhurtel proved to be the backbone of Nepal’s chase in the second innings, which was awarded by the Player of the Match award.
Brief Scores:
Nepal 147/2 in 16.3 Overs (Kushal Bhurtel 74, Akshay Puri 1-28) beat Singapore 145/9 in 20.0 Overs (Rohan Rangarajan 46, Abinash Bohara 3-43) by 8 wickets.
In another morning match at Mulpani Cricket Ground, the UAE won the toss and sent Bahrain to bat first. In the early morning conditions of Mulpani, Bahrain had a slow start, with only 15 runs on the board losing 3 wickets at the end of the powerplay, courtesy of tight bowling from Junaid Siddique, Ali Naseer, and Aayan Khan.
Bahrain kept scoring steadily with a few boundaries at occasions. While most of the Bahrain innings went with run rates under 6, it was only a late strike from Haider Butt, who scored 11 off the final over, that powered Bahrain to 135/6 in 20 overs. Haider Butt contributed 59 runs in 43 balls, remaining not out till the last over. Sohail Ahmed (28) and Junaid Aziz (25) were the only other Bahrain batters to have reached double digits.
The UAE’s Junaid Siddique and Aayan Khan got 2 scalps each in their 4 overs, while Ali Naseer and Karthik Meiyappan contributed with 1 wicket each.
The UAE too found themselves in trouble at one stage, when Bahrain took 3 wickets for just 24 runs in 4.2 overs. Soon after, Bahrain dismissed the fourth batsman, leaving the UAE at 60/4 in 10.5 overs. However, Ali Naseer’s resilient innings of 48(26)* made sure the UAE crossed the finish line with 10 balls remaining. Alishan Sharafu’s 27 and Asif Khan’s 23 also proved to be crucial in UAE’s victory.
With 48(26)* and 1-20, Ali Naseer became the undoubted Player of the Match.
Brief Scores:
UAE 137/5 in 18.2 Overs (Ali Naseer 48*, Rizwan Butt 2-18) beat Bahrain 135/6 in 20 Overs (Haider Butt 59*, Aayan Khan 2-13) by 5 wickets.
In the afternoon match in Kirtipur, Oman decided to bat first after winning the toss. They went after the Malaysian bowlers from the start, going at 10 per over, until Malaysia got their first wicket in the form of Pratik Athavale in the last ball of the fifth over. In the first ball of the next over, the other Omani opener Kashyap Prajapati got dismissed lbw, and Oman ended the powerplay at 41/2.
The run rate dropped to 6 per over in the next few overs, and Oman kept losing wickets in short intervals. At the end of 14 overs, they were struggling at 84/5, but late fireworks from skipper Zeeshan Maqsood and Mohammad Nadeem got them to 153/6 in 20 overs, with Maqsood finishing at 56(46)*, and Nadeem at 21(11)*. Virandeep Singh led the bowling department for Malaysia with 3 wickets, while Pavandeep Singh, Rizwan Haider and Vijay Unni got a wicket apiece.
Malaysia’s chase started with a wicket off the first ball of the innings, when Syed Aziz edged the ball towards the slips. The start got shakier when two more wickets were lost within the first six overs, with the scores at 36/3.
The trend of wickets falling didn’t stop there, as captain Ahmed Faiz was dismissed in the very first ball after the powerplay overs were done, and Malaysia were down to 36/4. Soon after, Malaysia found themselves at 72/7 in 14 overs with 82 still required to win in the remaining 36 balls.
In the end, Malaysia managed 121/8 in 20 overs. Virandeep Singh stood till the end with an unbeaten 57, but it wasn’t enough to take the team to the other end. All 6 bowlers took at least a wicket for Oman, with captain Zeeshan Maqsood and Bilal Khan picking two in their four overs.
Zeeshan Maqsood, who was both top batter and bowler for Oman, was named the Player of the Match.
Brief Scores:
Oman 153/6 in 20 Overs (Zeeshan Maqsood 56*, Virandeep Singh 3-24) beat Malaysia 121/8 in 20 Overs (Virandeep Singh 57*, Zeeshan Maqsood 2-13) by 32 runs.
After being invited to bat first by Kuwait, Hong Kong, China had an amazing start. At the end of the powerplay, they added 58 runs with no loss, with Martin Coetzee at 47(31)*.
The opening partnership carried on until the 11th over and was finally broken at 101 runs when captain Nizakat Khan was sent back on 25(24) by Shiraz Khan in 11.1 overs. Sayed Monib got the dangerous-looking Martin Coetzee soon after on 81 runs and Hong Kong, China were 109/2 in 13 overs.
Veteran batter Babar Hayat’s 31(27) became crucial in the later overs of Hong Kong, China’s innings as they posted 166/6 in the designated 20 overs. Sayed Monib’s 2-39 was the best bowling figures for Kuwait while Mohamed Shafeeq, Mohammed Aslam and Shiraz Khan all contributed with 1 wicket each.
In reply, Kuwait didn’t have the start they would have wanted. Ehsan Nawaz and Ayush Shukla sent back the Kuwaiti top order cheaply as they were 18/3 in 4 overs. After the early blows, Usman Patel and Mohammad Aslam took the innings forward with scores of 29 and 52 respectively.
Kuwait lost Aslam’s wicket when 46 runs were needed in 27 balls, and that went on to be the turning point of the match. With the set batsman gone, constant fall of wickets in the last three overs put Hong Kong, China in a commanding position to take the victory, as they managed to restrict Kuwait for 150/8 in 20 overs, ultimately winning the match by 16 runs. Ehsan Nawaz and Ayush Shukla’s 2 wickets and Aizaz Khan’s 3 wickets sealed the victory for Hong Kong, China.
Martin Coetzee got awarded with the Player of the Match award for his innings of 81 runs.
Brief Scores:
Hong Kong, China 166/6 in 20 Overs (Martin Coetzee 81, Sayed Monib 2-39) beat Kuwait 150/8 in 20 Overs (Mohammad Aslam 52, Aizaz Khan 3-30) by 16 runs.
About the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup qualification
For the first time, 20 teams will form part of the event and will be divided into four groups of five. The top two teams in each of the groups will move to a Super Eight phase, where the remaining teams will be split into two groups of four. The top two in each group will then make their way to the semi-finals.