Tucker swings a win for Bermuda

Berrington, Gunasekera, Porterfield hit sparkling half-centuries; Zadran, Odhiambo, Dockrell share bowling honours; Burger shines with both bat and ball

Janeiro Tucker smashed sixes off the first three balls of the last over to guide Bermuda to a sensational five wickets victory over Papua New Guinea (PNG) in a crucial Group A fixture of the ICC World Twenty20 Qualifier UAE 2012 at the ICC Global Cricket Academy, Oval 1, Dubai Sports City, on Monday.

Needing 16 off the final six balls of the match, Tucker blasted three straight sixes off PNG captain Rarua Dikana that helped Bermuda to overtake the 156-run target with three balls to spare. While the victory earned Bermuda its first victory in the tournament, the defeat ended PNG's hopes of finishing in the top three in its group.

Bermuda's Janiero Tucker finished unbeaten on 52 that came off 33 balls and included one four and five towering sixes. Bermuda captain David Hemp was the other main run-getter with a 27-ball 30 with a four and a six. The two batsmen added 55 runs for the fourth wicket in just over seven overs.

Earlier, Vani Vagi Morea top scored with 49 not out in PNG's 155 for six. Morea hit four fours and two sixes in a 31-ball knock. Chris Amini with 32 was the other notable run-getter.

Tucker later said: "My personal performance was really outstanding today. I haven't really had a good last four or five games, but today all came together.

"Hitting that last ball was amazing. That was always my intention to try to get us to victory in the last over. I guess our strategy for the last couple of games will be pretty much the same as today. We got a victory so I guess we've done something right."

Elsewhere, Afghanistan, Canada, Ireland, Namibia, Netherlands and Scotland had it easy against their rivals on the seventh day of the tournament.

The day was in two parts with low-scoring matches being the order of the day in the morning session, whereas the afternoon matches had a few high scoring encounters.

However the fancied sides continued to march towards the next stage of the competition.

In Group A, Afghanistan made short work of Hong Kong in Sharjah, Netherlands steamrolled Nepal by six wickets at the ICC GCA in Dubai while in Abu Dhabi, Canada beat Denmark by 55 runs.

In the Group B matches, table toppers Namibia stamped its authority with an impressive 36 runs win over Oman, Scotland beat Italy by seven wickets, Ireland was impressive in its 82 runs win over Uganda and Kenya defeated the USA by nine wickets.

The two sides that will top their respective groups will feature in the 1st Qualifying Final at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium on 22 March with the winner sealing a place for the Sri Lanka tournament to be staged from 18 September to 7 October.

The sides that finish second and third in the two groups will play cross-over matches. The two winners will progress to the Preliminary Final to be played on 23 March at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium. The 2nd Qualifying Final - for the second spot in the ICC World Twenty20 2012 - will take place on the morning of 24 March at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium between the loser of the 1st Qualifying Final and the winner of the Preliminary Final.

The two qualifiers will then lock horns in the tournament finale on the final evening and the side that wins the match will not only lift the trophy but will also join Australia and the West Indies in Group B. The losing team will complete Group A which also includes defending champion England and 2007 winner India.

The day once again produced some outstanding individual performances.

Afghanistan's Dollat Zadran (five for 14) bowled a magical spell against Hong Kong at Sharjah, Scotland's Richie Berrington hit an impressive 67, Nelson Odhiambo's spell of three for 14 helped Kenya beat USA, Namibia captain Sarel Burger's all-round show (53 & three for 14) against Oman helped his side maintain the top billing in Group B.

The other impressive performers of the day were Ireland's William Porterfield (53), Kevin O'Brien's (39 n.o. and two for seven) and George Dockrell (3-26) and Canada's Ruvindu Gunasekera who was the day's top-scorer while scoring 95 in an impressive show against Denmark.

Afghanistan's Dollat Zadran, after his man of the match performance, said: "This was my best bowling in a T20 match. I am glad that I could contribute to the win. The captain and coach showed a lot of faith in me. We are going from strength to strength in the tournament."

Another talking point of the day was Namibia skipper Sarel Burger's impressive all-round performance. In a low-scoring match, Namibia maintained its winning run against Oman too. Burger, who was declared man of the match, said: "It was a 140 kind of pitch. I thought we were short when we ended at 120. Thankfully we stuck to the task as a group and bowled them out for far less. The team is in a good space and want to keep up the momentum."

O'Brien was also delighted with his performance when he said: "It's always nice to get a few runs and wickets, and I followed up yesterday's bowling with a few wickets again today. I'm probably hitting form at the right time coming into the back end of the tournament so hopefully there are a few scores around the corner.

"Tomorrow, all we have to do is win the game, and hopefully Italy can do something for us. I mean, if Namibia wins seven out of seven, they deserve to be top of the table. There's nothing we can do about that. So just we'll go out and play well again and get another win and secure second place on the table."

Scotland's Berrington said: "The boys played very well today and bounced back after yesterday's game against Ireland. It takes a lot of character to come back and win today. So, we're just focusing right now on every game and taking each game as it comes.

"It was very nice to spend a bit of time in the middle today and bat through most of the innings. I would have liked to have seen it through to the end, but the boys managed to put a few away."

Dutch captain Peter Borren was also satisfied with his side's winning performance against Nepal when he said: "I think Nepal has played some reasonable cricket in this competition, so we weren't taking them lightly. We bowled pretty well and they were always going to struggle to defend 86. It is going to be really difficult for us. The format of the tournament means, having lost to Afghanistan, if you are first in your group you have a huge advantage here.

"We just need to keep playing good cricket. If we win four more games, we will qualify, and if we win five more games, we will win the tournament. We are going in the right direction. In the last two days, we've had some pretty convincing wins and I am pretty happy with where we are at."

Scores in brief

Group A

Afghanistan beats Hong Kong by nine wickets at Sharjah Cricket Stadium

Hong Kong 103-9, 20 overs (Irfan Ahmed 54; Dollat Zadran 5-14, Izatullah Dawlatzai 2-19)

Afghanistan 104-1, 11.1 overs (Karim Sadiq 22, Javed Ahmadi 38 n.o., Mohammad Shahzad 43 n.o.)

Man of the Match: Dollat Zadran (Afghanistan)

Netherlands beats Nepal by six wickets at ICC GCA Oval 1, Dubai Sports City, Dubai

Nepal 85-7, 20 overs (Gyanendra Malla 32, Basanta Regmi 20; Michael Swart 2-13)

Netherlands 86-4, 13.5 overs (Basanta Regmi 3-32)

Man of the match: Michael Swart (Netherlands)

Bermuda beats PNG by five wickets at ICC GCA Oval 1, Dubai Sports City, Dubai

PNG 155-6, 20 overs (Vani Vagi Morea 49 not out, Chris Amini 32, Geraint Jones 23; Curt Stovell 2-21, Sam Robinson 2-27)

Bermuda 158-5, 19.3 overs (Janeiro Tucker 52 not out, Curt Stovell 31, David Hemp 30)

Man of the match: Janeiro Tucker (Bermuda)

Canada beats Denmark by 55 runs at Sheikh Zayed Stadium, Abu Dhabi

Canada 178-3, 20 overs(Ruvindu Gunasekera 95, Hiral Patel 43)

Denmark 123-4, 20 overs (Rizwan Mahmood 65, Freddie Klokker 40; Henry Osinde 2-16)

Man of the Match: Ruvindu Gunasekera (Canada)

Group B

Scotland beats Italy by seven wickets at ICC GCA Oval 2, Dubai Sports City, Dubai

Italy 136-6, 20 overs (Gareth Berg 29, Peter Petricola 28, Carl Sandri 25; Majid Haq 2-16, Matthew Parker 2-24)

Scotland 137-3, 18 overs (Richard Berrington 67, Preston Mommsen 36)

Man of the match: Richard Berrington (Scotland)

Kenya beats USA by nine wickets at Sheikh Zayed Stadium, Abu Dhabi

USA 90 all out, 18.2 overs (Sushil Nadkarni 41; Ragheb Aga 3-16, Nelson Odhiambo 3-13)

Kenya 93-1, 10 overs (Duncan Allan 34 not out, Collins Obuya 24 not out, Alex Obanda 34)

Man of the match Nelson Odhiambo (Kenya)

Namibia beats Oman by 36 runs at Sharjah Cricket Stadium, Sharjah

Namibia 120-7, 20 overs (Sarel Burger 53, Gerrie Snyman 29; Farhan Khan 2-14, Ajay Lalcheta 2-13)

Oman 84, 18.4 overs (Christi Viljoen 4-8, Sarel Burger 3-14)

Man of the Match: Sarel Burger (Namibia)

Ireland beats Uganda by 82 runs at ICC GCA Oval 2, Dubai Sports City, Dubai

Ireland 179-5, 20 overs (William Porterfield 53, Paul Stirling 43, Kevin O'Brien 39 not out, Gary Wilson 30; Jonathan Sebanja 2-9)

Uganda 97 in 19.5 overs (Jonathan Sebanja 20; George Dockrell 3-26, Kevin O'Brien 2-7, Trent Johnston 2-8)

Man of the match: Kevin O'Brien (Ireland)

GROUP A

GROUP B

Tuesday's schedule

Afghanistan v Bermuda (1000-1300), Global Cricket Academy No.1, Dubai Sports City

Kenya v Uganda (1000-1300), Global Cricket Academy No.2, Dubai Sports City

Ireland v Oman (1000-1300), Sheikh Zayed Stadium, Abu Dhabi

Netherlands v Hong Kong (1000-1300), Sharjah Cricket Stadium, Sharjah

Namibia v Italy (1400-1700), Global Cricket Academy No.1, Dubai Sports City

Scotland v USA (1400-1700), Global Cricket Academy No.2, Dubai Sports City

PNG v Denmark (1400-1700), Sheikh Zayed Stadium, Abu Dhabi

Canada v Nepal (1400-1700), Sharjah Cricket Stadium, Sharjah