ICC T20 World Cup Qualifiers | Scotland, Ireland bounce back after initial blips
Normalcy was restrored in the Irish and Scottish camps as Scotland avoided a scare from Papua New Guinea beating the latter by 4 runs while Ireland comfortably overcame high-flying Oman by 35 runs. Oman have now had their first defeat in the tournament as the race for qualifying has heated up.
Scotland vs Papua New Guinea
Batting first, skipper Kyle Coetzer led the way with a 47-ball 54. Papua New Guinea bowlers were economical, especially Norman Vanua and Asad Vala. But a quickfire 40 from 23 balls from wicket-keeper Matt Cross gave Scotland a fighting total of 146. Papua New Guinea's chase began in a topsy-turvey way with the powerplay involving boundaries, wickets, and maiden over. Tony Ura and Lega Siaka seemed to have steadied the ship. But wickets off consecutive balls of Charles Amini and Siaka tilted the game in favour of Scotland. Just when the Scottish thought they were in complete control of the game, Norman Vanua, with a cameo of 33 runs in 18 balls, broke the game open. He and Jason Kila took 17 runs off the second-last over, leaving only 8 to get off the last over. But Josh Davey removed both the batsman in consecutive balls as Papua managed to score only four of the final four balls.
UAE vs Hong Kong
The hosts kept things tight as all the Hong Kong top-order batsmen got starts but were not able to shift gears. Nizakat Khan's 31runs of 29 balls was the only saving grace in a rather below-par batting performance. Rohan Mustafa and Waheed Ahmed were the pick of the bowlers with 2 wickets each. Needing 117 to win, Hong Kong struck early by removing Rohan Mustafa early in the powerplay. But Chirag Suri and Ramiz Shahzad strung a brilliant partnership to ensure that there was no chance of a fightback from Hong Kong. Suri scored a 43-ball 46 while Shahzad top-scored with a 37-ball 54. The hosts coasted home comfortably with 8 wickets and 5 overs to spare.
Ireland vs Oman
Ireland batted first and lost Paul Stirling early but the solid partnership between Kevin O'Brien and Gareth Delany blew away Oman's chances of keeping things tight. Kevin scored 28-ball 41 while Delany smashed a spectacular unbeaten 89 of 49 balls smashing 9 fours and 3 sixes. This power-packed innings powered Ireland to a total of 183 in their 20 overs. In reply, Oman needed a good start from their openers. Jatinder Singh and Khawar Ali provided a steady start and Khawar Ali went on to score a half-century. But Oman were unable to continue the momentum as they kept on losing wickets at regular intervals. Mark Adair, Gareth Delany and George Dockrell all chipped in with a couple of wickets each to give Ireland a 35-run victory.
Kenya vs Bermuda
Batting first, Kenya lost their first wicket in the form of Alex Obanda for a golden duck. But keeper Irfan Karim and Dhiren Gondaria steaded the Kenyan ship with Gondaria top-scoring with a brilliant 67-ball 85. Kenya reached a modest total of 138 due to failure in gaining momentum late in their innings. Bermuda were hopeful of chasing 139 but their chase could not have started on a worst possible note as they lost Okera Bascome on the very first ball of their chase. Everything went downhill from there as Bermuda bundled out for just 83. Collins Obuya was the star with the ball as he picked 4 wickets and gave just 27 runs. Bermuda still haven't opened their account with three losses from their three games.
Canada vs Nigeria
Canada batted first and got a steady start from Rodrigo Thomas and skipper Navneet Dhaliwal. Nitish Kumar top-scored with an unbeaten 57 off 36 balls. Hamza Tariq provided a late blitz scoring 33 off 16 balls with three gigantic sixes to propel Canada to a respectable total of 159. A target of 160 was a tricky one and needed a good start from the Nigerian openers. But Leke Oyede departed in the first over and thereafter momentum was sucked out of the Nigerian batting effort. Sulaimon Runsewe and Chimezie Onwuzulike tried to steer the ship by building a stable partnership with the latter top-scoring with 39 runs, but there was no late hitting to follow as Nigeria were rattled for a total of 109. Dillon Heyliger was the pick of the bowlers with magnificent figures of 3 wickets for 16 runs in his 4 overs.
