Tag: ICC Men’s T20 World Cup

GEELONG: The United Arab Emirates (UAE) sealed their first-ever win in the ICC T20 World Cup to crush Namibia’s hopes of Super 12 qualification in a final-over thriller.

Following UAE’s victory over Namibia, the Netherlands make their way to the Super 12s and will join Pakistan, India, Bangladesh and South Africa in Group 2.

The UAE bowlers decimated Namibia’s top order and restricted them to 46/5 in the eighth over.

Following the slump, in a must-win game for Namibia, prolific all-rounder David Wiese stood up for his team and scripted an astounding fightback with his heroic knock.

The right-handed batter kept the scoreboard ticking single-handedly while his side lost two quick wickets in the 13th over. He then put on a vital eighth-wicket partnership with Ruben Trumpelmann, who remained not out on 25.

Wiese’s heroics, in the end, however, went in vain as he fell on the fourth delivery of the final over when his side needed 10 off just three.

Muhammad Waseem, who was defending 14 in the final over, leaked just six runs and hence guided his side to a historic victory as Namibia could finish at 141/8 in their allotted 20 overs.

Zahoor Khan and Basil Hameed bagged two wickets each for the UAE, while Karthik Meiyappan, Junaid Siddique and Waseem struck out a batter each.

Batting first after winning the toss, UAE managed to put on a decent total on the board, thanks to their captain Rizwan’s quickfire knock at the death.

UAE openers provided a stable but slow start as they could amass 39 runs in the first eight overs.

In a slow first-wicket stand, wicketkeeper batter Vriitya Aravind found it hard to score freely before falling to Bernard Scholtz in the ninth over.

Aravind could score 21 in his snail-paced knock and faced 32 deliveries.

Following his departure, Waseem then joined hands with Rizwan and added 48 runs for the second wicket before Ben Shikongo removed him in the 15th over.

Waseem top-scored for the UAE with 50 off 41 deliveries and smashed three sixes and a boundary.

Alishan Sharafu had a disappointing outing with the bat as he could score a run-a-ball four amid his brief 16-run partnership for the third wicket with Rizwan.

With UAE struggling at 113/3 in 17 overs, Basil Hameed and Rizwan then charged on the Namibian bowlers and bolstered the total to a competitive 148/3 in their quota of 20 overs.

The duo scored 35 runs in the last three overs including a magnificent final over that saw them steal 21 runs from it.

Rizwan scored a quickfire knock of 43 not out off just 29 deliveries, laced with three boundaries and a six, while Hameed remained unbeaten on 25 off 14.

For Namibia, David Wiese, Shikongo, and Scholtz made one scalp each.

GEELONG: Netherlands’ batters held their nerves calm in a tense run chase to claim their first victory in the ongoing ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2022 as they downed United Arab Emirates (UAE) by three wickets with only three balls to spare.

Set to chase a paltry target of 113, the Netherlands jittered in the middle as they lost three quick wickets between the 12th and 15th over, plunging to 76/6 after sailing comfortably to 71/3.

UAE bowler Junaid Siddique stormed through the middle order as he picked back-to-back wickets in the 14th over to set the alarm bells off for the Netherlands.

Skipper Scot Edwards then remained firm on the crease along with Tim Pringle to raise a match-saving partnership of 27 runs for the seventh wicket to ensure that they took their side home.

Edwards played an unbeaten knock of 16 off 19 while Pringle scored 15 off 16 before was castled by Zahoor Khan in the penultimate over.

Max O’Dowd top-scored for the Dutch side with 18-ball 23 while Collin Ackerman contributed with 17 off 19.

For UAE, Junaid returned the sensational bowling figures of 3/24 while Basil Hameed, Aayan Afzal Khan, Karthik Meiyappan and Zahoor took a scalp each.

Earlier, batting first after winning the toss, the UAE batting lineup failed and could only accumulate 111/8 despite Muhammad Waseem’s 41.

The opening batter carried his bat till the 16th over but could not bolster his side to a massive total as he remained touch too slow in his anchoring knock.

The right-handed batter scored 41 off 47 deliveries and hit one boundary and two sixes.

The rest of the UAE failed to contribute significantly with Vriitya Aravind (18) being the second top scorer.

Right-arm pacer de Leede led the bowling attack for the Netherlands as he returned with 3/19, while Fred Klaassen bagged two. Tim Pringle and Roelof van der Merwe struck out a batter apiece.

GEELONG: Namibian bowlers displayed a combined effort to bundle out Sri Lanka on 108 as they stunned the former champions to mark ICC Men’s T20 World Cup start with an upset.

Set to chase 164, Sri Lanka bundled out for a paltry 108 with only three of their batters amassing the double figures.

The Asian champions had a deplorable start to their run chase as they lost four wickets for a mere 40 runs in the seventh over.

Sri Lankan captain Dasun Shanaka and Bhanuka Rajapaksa put on a brief fightback as they added 34 runs for the fifth wicket before the latter perished in the 11th over.

The left-handed could score 20 off 21 deliveries including two boundaries.

Sri Lankan then ran into yet another collapse and began to lose wickets at an alarming rate and soon skittled out for a mere 108.

Shanaka remained the top-scorer for the side as he scored a gritty 29 off 23 balls.

Ben Shikongo, Bernard Scholtz and David Wiese bagged two wickets each for Namibia, while JJ Smit struck out a batter.

Batting first on the invitation of Sri Lankan captain Shanaka, Namibia managed to amass a decent 163/7 in their quota of 20 overs, thanks to brilliant cameos of Frylinck and Smit later in their innings.

Namibia had an unwanted start to their first innings as they lost three wickets for a paltry 35 inside five overs.

Stephan Baard and skipper Gerhard Erasmus then attempted to anchor the innings as they added 41 runs for the fourth wicket.

The pair stopped the flow of the wickets but remained a touch too slow as Namibia could get to 68/3 in 11 overs.

Skipper Erasmus then looked to speed up the proceedings but ended up falling to Wanindu Hasaranga de Silva in the 12th over. He could score 20 off 24 deliveries.

The side then lost two more wickets as Baard (20) and David Wiese (0) fell in consecutive overs, consequently causing Namibia to slip to 93/6 in the 15th over.

Following the slump, Frylinck and Smit stood up for their team and scripted an astonishing recovery as they added 70 runs at a rapid pace to bolster the total to 163/7 before the former fell on the last delivery of the innings.

Frylinck top-scored for the side with a quickfire knock of 44 off 28, laced with four boundaries, while Smit remained unbeaten on 31 off 16 with the help of two boundaries and as many sixes.

Madushan Liyanagamage led the bowling attack for Sri Lanka with 2/37, while de Silva, Maheesh Theekshana, Dushmantha Chameera and Chamika Karunaratne made one scalp each.

MELBOURNE: Indian captain Rohit Sharma opened up regarding the conversations between the players of two-arch rivals – India and Pakistan – whenever they come face to face against each other.

The captains of all 16 teams participating in the upcoming ICC Men’s T20 World Cup, took part in the captains’ day media event on Saturday and discussed the preparations of their respective teams ahead of the mega event.

Pakistan captain Babar Azam and his Indian counterpart were all praise for each other during the event, and brilliantly explained the bond the players of the two teams share, in response to a journalist’s question.

“Rohit Sharma is older than me. I try to take as much experience as possible from him as he has been playing for a long time,” said Babar.

Rohit, on the other hand, asserted that both teams’ players often talk about how are things back home and how the families are.

” We understand the game against Pakistan, but there is no point in talking about it every time and creating that pressure within yourselves,” Rohit said.

“Whenever we meet against the Pakistan players, we met them in the Asia Cup and now… we talk about how are things back home, how the families are. Even our previous generation cricketers also told us the same thing. We just talk about what is going on, how is life and what new car they have bought or they are about to buy,” he added.

It is pertinent to mention that Pakistan will lock horns with arch-rivals India on October 23 in the most-talked clash of the upcoming T20 World Cup.

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