ICC World T20 Qualifier Preview-Group B

Group B is topped by ICC World Twenty20 Qualifier 2010 runners up Ireland, led by William Porterfield, who will be confident he can take his side to its third ICC World Twenty20 event.

Porterfield?s men are coached by former West Indies all-rounder Phil Simmons and the side featured most recently in the ICC WT20 England 2009, ICC WT20 West Indies 2010 as well as the ICC CWCs of 2007 and 2011 where the team famously overturned England in Bangalore in the one-day format of the game.

Big-hitting all-rounders Paul Stirling and Kevin O?Brien will be key for Porterfield?s men as will the experienced bowling of pace duo Trent Johnston and Alex Cusack, the pair having taken 39 T20I wickets between them.

Young players to keep an eye out for are recently capped fast bowler Max Sorensen while Ireland U19 captain George Dockrell will once again be one to watch out for with the spin friendly pitched of the UAE. Dockrell led the Ireland under-19 side to qualification at the ICC U19 CWC Qualifier last year and will be hoping he can assist the senior men in gaining a berth in Sri Lanka.

Fellow automatic qualifier in Group B is Scotland which last featured in an ICC World Twenty20 back in 2009 in England, prior to that the side also featured in the inaugural tournament in South Africa in 2007.

Gordon Drummond will lead the Saltires and is hopeful of batting partnerships flourishing from many, including Calum MacLeod and Richie Berrington, while the spin duo of Majid Haq and Preston Mommsen impressed with the ball on the side?s recent training tour to Sri Lanka.

The side has a youthful look to it but still has the experience of the likes of athletic fielder Kyle Coetzer, batsman Fraser Watts and late addition to the squad Simon Smith who replaces the injured all-rounder Josh Davey.

There are three sides from the Africa region in Group B, with the automatic qualifier coming from Kenya. The team is led by Collins Obuya and the young captain is optimistic that the Kenyans will perform well in the tournament and gain a place at this year?s ICC World Twenty20.

The team last featured back in 2007 in South Africa but has yet to make its mark in previous qualifiers and Obuya will want to ensure he leads alongside Alex Obanda with run-making, the latter was the most prolific run-getter for the team in the ICC WT20Q UAE 2010.

Kenya?s bowling attack revolves around the likes of fast bowling duo Nelson Odhiambo and Nehemiah Odhiambo, the pair were two of the most successful Kenya bowlers in the tournament two years ago and are confident of putting in an improved performance from its most recent Twenty20 International outing where it was defeated 3-0 by a visiting Ireland in February.

Meanwhile, ICC U19 CWCQ Ireland 2011 Player of the Tournament Duncan Allan is expected to impress after the 20-year-old took four wickets and 455 runs last summer and has played Twenty20 cricket for the senior Kenya side for some time now.

The Africa regional qualifiers Namibia and Uganda feature in the event after the pair made the final of the ICC Africa Twenty20 Division 1 tournament. Interestingly, of the three competing Africa sides, Kenya, which competed in the regional qualifier despite having already qualified for the UAE event, finished third in the tournament while Uganda defeated favourites Namibia in the final.

Namibia will be led by newly appointed captain Sarel Burger who takes over from Craig Williams, with the top order batsman still featuring in the side and keen to make runs for the Namibia who have yet to appear in an ICC World Twenty20. The team have been taking batting guidance from former South Africa batsman Daryll Cullinan.

Burger?s bowling attack features two exciting players in Louis van der Westhuizen, the slow left-arm spinner a veteran of the ICC U19 Cricket World Cup Sri Lanka 2006 who also was the top scorer in the regional qualifier with 406 runs and the other ?Louis?, Klazinga whose fast pace will be important.

Uganda, which was defeated twice in the round-robin stages of the ICC Africa?s event by Namibia, went on to win the event and Davis Arinaitwe wants to see the side progress from the two U19 ICC Cricket World Cups (2003-4 and 2005-6) it has featured in, to the bigger global stage.

Uganda?s top wicket-taker could well come in the form of Deusdedit Muhumza, the 22-year-old medium pacer claimed the most wickets in the regional qualifier, 18 scalps at an average of 11.5 while Arthur Kyobe can be relied on to make runs after he amassed 203 in the team?s qualification tournament.

The second European qualifier comes in the form of Italy whose most famous new addition is former Australia batsman Michael Di Venuto. The 38-year-old opener has scored 951 runs in Twenty20 cricket and Alessandro Bonora is confident the former Australia ODI player can come up with the goods for Italy.

Coached by Joe Scuderi, Bonora?s bowling attack is enhanced with fast bowler Gayashan Munasinghe while Di Venuto should be ably assisted by Peter Petricola who has continued to perform with the bat and ball in ICC World Cricket League events.

The only side to represent the Middle East in the ICC WT20Q UAE 2012, Oman is confident its knowledge of local conditions will be to its advantage.

Led by Hemal Mehta the team finished fourth in the ICC ACC T20 to reach the UAE event and despite being an older side, only two from the team are under-25, players to keep an eye out for include Vaibhav Wategaonkar who scored 155 runs in the qualifier and slow left-arm spinners Hemal and Aamir Kaleem, the pair taking 10 wickets each in Kathmandu in December to help Oman to qualify for the UAE tournament.

Finally, Group B is rounded off by the second ICC Americas qualifier, United States of America, led by new captain Sushil Nadkarni, who will be wanting a better performance from the side than its last outing in the ICC WT20Q 2010 where it beat Scotland in the group stages but failed to progress any further.

The 35-year-old opening batsman scored 149 runs in the team?s qualification tournament and brings a new looking side to the ICC World Twenty20 Qualifier UAE 2012 where the average age of the side is 27.

Four new faces join the side in fast bowler Elmore Hutchinson, all-rounder Adil Bhatti, Nauman Mustafa takes over the wicketkeeping role from the departed Carl Wright while off-spinner Abhimanya Rajp also makes the cut for the side. Four players from the U19 development programme also feature in the side, all-rounder Ryan Corns, off-spinner Muhammad Ghous, opening batsman Steven Taylor and middle-order left-hand bat Andy Mohammed.

The side is coached by former USA cricketer Mark Johnson who is being assisted by former India all-rounder Robin Singh and the duo will be hopeful that the side at least makes the knock-out stages, no easy task considering the strength of the opposition in Group B.