Global Game: Germany crowned T20I tri-series champions

It was their first cricket since March of last year, when they played a bilateral series in Spain just before the pandemic-induced shutdown. The victory comes after the German women’s 5-0 series sweep against France last month, and also marked the T20I debut of France’s men, who played their first recognised internationals in almost three years. Norway, meanwhile, took the field for the first time since last year’s unofficial series against Denmark in the northern summer.

Played at the Bayer Uerdingen ground between the 5th and 8th of August, the tri-series was another success for Germany’s recently-inaugurated National Performance Centre in Krefeld. With the hosts ranked 33 on the ICC’s MRF Tyres T20I Rankings, ahead of Norway (38) and France (currently unranked due to not playing enough matches) they took the opportunity to experiment with a new-look side, handing caps to seven debutants over the course of the series. Norway also saw debuts for ten players in their five matches.

On the field the action was exciting, with several tight finishes and every team winning at least one match. The first match was a comfortable win to Germany, who bundled out Norway for just 76. The first wicket set the tone, with captain Raza Iqbal caught ball-watching and then run out after a farcical mixup with his opening partner Faizan Mumtaz. Thereafter, offspinner Ghulam Ahmadi (4/5 in 4 overs) and seamer Sajid Liaqat (3/24 in 3.4) were the chief destroyers. Norway would have been in even more trouble were it not for a pair of 30s from Kuruge Abeyrathne and Sher Sahak; Germany’s batting laboured in the response thanks Raza Iqbal’s 2/14 with his left-arm orthodox, but ultimately got over the line with 5 wickets in hand and 17 balls to spare. In the second match, France shocked Norway, with a tight fielding performance keeping Norway to 112/7 in their 20 overs. Legspinner Dawood Amadzai was the pick of the bowlers, grabbing 2/10 off his 4 overs. In response, the French got off to a steady star with openers Usman Shahid (28 off 26) and Suventhiran Santhirakumaran (34 off 39) laying the platform with a 67-run partnership. Both batters feasted on some loose bowling outside off, as Santhirakumaran carved four boundaries through the cover-backward point range, while Shahid slapped the only six of the innings over the same area. Raza Iqbal (2/13) caused a bit of a wobble with two wickets in his last over, having Shahid caught switch-hitting and new man Usman Khan out chipping into the covers. Norway rallied to put the squee on, and France lost 4/14 in five overs but Noman Amjad struck a pair of big blows over square into the adjacent football field and got France out of bother as they crossed the line with 3 balls and 4 wickets to spare.

The second match day was a Germany-France clash, with the tourists almost pulling off the biggest upset of the tournament in the first game. After some early rain reduced the match to 18 overs each, a soggy outfield and tidy bowling from the Germans saw France plodding to just 94/9 in their allotment. Usman Khan led the way with a patient 25 from 25, including a brace of sweetly-timed square drives, before he was castled by a well-directed yorker from seamer Sahir Naqash. Naqash ended with 2/20, while offspinner Venkatraman Ganesan grabbed 2/15 to top the bowling figures. In response the Germans were carried by a remarkable solo effort from Harmanjot Singh, who thrashed 68* (34) while not a single one of his colleagues passed double figures. His 70.1% the eventual total of 97/8 was the second-highest by a single batter in men’s T20Is, and it seemed like he was playing a different game as he pumped 11 fours and a massive slog-swept 6. At the other end it was a procession, with Usman Shahid’s offspin claiming 3/29 as well as Dawood Amadzai and Rahmatullah Mangal (both 1/22) chipping in. Two runouts added to the frantic nature of the chase, all while Harmanjot breezed towards the target. He ended the chase in convincing fashion as he thumped Shahid to the rope over mid-on, but it was a narrow escape for the hosts with just two wickets in hand.

The next day’s morning rematch was not as close, with a dominant German win as they posted 164/3 in 20 overs and kept France to 116/8. Vijayshankar Chikkannaiah headlined the German innings with 81* (58) as he savaged the spinners over midwicket, including the biggest six of the match into some nearby bushes. France were left to rue a letoff given by Dawood Amadzai, who fumbled a chest-high chance coming in from the rope at backward point with Chikkannaiah in the 40s, but given the French batting effort, it seems unlikely to have made a difference. Virk Ali was steadfast in the reply, unbeaten on 52* (51), but with no support (the best of the rest was 10 from Lingeswaran Canessane and Rahmatullah Mangal) he was unable to push on. The afternoon game on the 7th was another narrow loss to France as they couldn’t go 2-0 against Norway and saw their hopes of a berth in the final against Germany slip away. Sent in to bat by the French, Norway posted 131/8 in a collective effort, with six batters passing double figures and Sher Sahak’s 29 (15) pushing up the run rate in the middle order. Sahak repeatedly skipped down the pitch and lofted a brace of huge sixes through the arc. France’s response was carried by opener and captain Usman Shahid (64 off 55), who rotated the strike and found the rope when needed. He was still at the crease at the start of the last over, and with France needing 12, they were in with a chance. But he chipped a drive straight to the man at cover, through the shot too quickly on one that was pitched up and certainly hittable. The blow was too much for France to recover from, and they ultimately fell 3 runs short with 128/8.

The last day of play saw Norway upset the hosts, before Germany reasserted themselves in a tense final. Opting to field first, Germany would have felt they had the Norwegians contained after economical early spells from Vishnu Bharathi (1/9 off 4) and Abdul-Shakoor Rahimzei (0/7 off 3). Wahidullah Sahak was carrying Norway’s innings with a steady 52 (44), and when he departed at 115/4 in the 17th over, they looked set for a middling total. But they were lifted by an astonishing late assault from Sher Sahak (39* off 13) and Usman Arif (33 off 9), who peppered the midwicket boundary with sixes, being fed by some wayward deliveries as the German bowlers were rattled. 93 runs came from the final 5 overs to take Norway to a challenging 185/7. The response from the hosts was anodyne though, and Sahak backed up his half-century with a tidy spell of seam-up (2/24 off 4), including the scalps of both openers. Harmanjot Singh tried to hold things together with 49 (40) but not enough of his teammates were able to stick around, and Germany’s chase meandered to a tame conclusion at 134/6 in their 20, losing by 51 runs. The afternoon match, the final, was much closer, though Norway were unable to maintain their winning streak. Opting to bat first, Norway spluttered to 127/8 in their 20, with Bilal Safder 37* (26) leading the way, though Sajid Liaqat (3/26 off 4), Vishnu Bharathi (2/16 off 4) and Ghulam Ahmadi (0/12 off 4) kept a lid on scoring. Then came an interruption as the rain wiped out 6 overs of the German chase, with the DLS calculations leaving them 94 runs to score in 14 overs. It was a real team effort as every batter reached double figures, and none got to 20, but with 8 runs to score in the last over, the match was still on an even keel. Sahir Naqash sealed the match and tournament in style for the hosts though, fetching a wide half-volley from seamer Vinay Ravi to power it over mid-on for a six.

Global Game is a collaboration between the ICC andEmerging Cricket.