T20 World Cup Qualifier | Netherlands overcome Papua New Guinea to win the Qualifier Final

The third-place play-off began with Ireland batting first and Kevin O'Brien and Paul Stirling got off to a decent start but by the end of the powerplay, both were back in the hut. Wickets were tumbling at regular intervals but Andrew Balbirnie tried to keep one end intact with a well-made 35-ball 46. Some late hitting down the order from Mark Adair helped Ireland reach a supposedly below-par score of 135 in their 20 overs. 

Although the target was below-par, the Namibian openers needed a good start to ensure a smooth chase. But it was not to be as they kept on losing wickets at regular intervals and slumped to 42/4 at one point. Skipper Gerhard Erasmus played a great knock of 51 off 34 balls in order to keep his team in the hunt for the target. But he received no support whatsoever from the other end as wickets continued to tumble. In the end, the Namibians were bowled out for 108 and spinner Simi Singh was the pick of the bowlers with figures of 3 for 25 off his four overs. Ireland won the game by 27 runs and finished the tournament on a high and in a respectable third place.

The Final deservedly had two best teams that played in the Qualifier. Papua New Guinea batted first and wanted to put runs on board in the Final. But spinner Roelof van der Merwe robbed them early as they were reduced to 30 for 3 losing all of their top-order. As wickets began to tumble from one end, Legia Saka's  39 and Sese Bau's run-a-ball 29 were just about enough to prevent a major PNG collapse. In the end, Jason Kila played a blinder as his quick-fire 27 off just 11 balls dragged PNG to a total of 128 in their 20 overs. Brandon Glover was the pick of the Dutch bowlers with figures of 3 for 24 off his four overs.