Teams put their best foot forward in warm-up games ahead of ICC Men’s T20 World Cup Qualifier
At the Dubai International Stadium, UAE beat Scotland by 37 runs. Captain Kyle Coetzer won the toss and elected to field first. The hosts spurred by Ashfaq Ahmed’s 38 and Rameez Shahzad’s quickfire 43 off 28 balls in the end tallied 157 for 5 in their stipulated 20 overs. Tom Sole returned with figures of 3 for 24 for the Scots. In response, the joint winners of the previous edition of the tournament struggled to get going as the UAE bowlers led by Qadeer Ahmed (3-18) managed to restrict them to a paltry 120.
Simultaneously, at the ICC Academy, Oman added to their pre-tournament winning streak in a low scoring thriller against Papua New Guinea. The Oman bowlers first combined well to bundle out PNG for 97. Opener Tony Ura played a lone hand trying to lend some respectability to the total as he notched 39 off 35 balls. In response, the West Asian country dusted off a sluggish start to scale down the target in 17.2 overs with 4 wickets to spare. Aamir Kaleem top scored with an unbeaten 30 while Sandeep Goud chipped in with a steady 20.
In the games that followed in the afternoon, Ireland overcame a nervy beginning to their innings to post 156-8. Captain Gary Wilson top scored with 44 off 32 balls while Mark Adair chipped in with a quickfire 24 off 13 balls at the death. In response, Netherlands could only manage 126 in response. Craig Young returned best figures of 3-21 in his 4 overs for Ireland.
Hong Kong inspired by late overs heroics from Scott McKechnie 31(28) and Simandeep Singh 19(13) chased down Namibia’s 131 in the final over. Namibia earlier had slumped to 70-6 before JJ Smit’s 35 off 18 balls took them to a respectable total. For Hong Kong, Waqas Barkat was the wrecker in chief, scalping three wickets for just 25 runs.
Ravinderpal Singh struck a quickfire 79 off 38 balls to lead Canada to a 6 wicket win over Singapore. His blitzkrieg knock undid the good work put in by the Singapore batsmen who showed good composure as they posted an impressive 164-5 in the first innings. Surendra Rajmohan was the pick of the batsmen as the opener notched 54. He was ably supported by Aritra Dutta and Amanpreet Singh, both of who struck quickfire 30s.
At the Zayed Cricket Stadium in Abu Dhabi, Jersey put up a commanding batting display to outclass Kenya by 7 wickets. Shem Ngoche won the toss and elected to bat first. The Kenyans posted 127-6 with veteran Collins Obuya topscored with 49 off 47 balls. In response, Jersey made easy work of the chase, scaling down the target in just 13.2 overs. Jonty Jenner topscored as he remained not out on 47 while Ben Stevens contributed with 32 off 19 balls.
In the other game there, Bermuda cantered to a win against Nigeria. Batting first, Bermuda tallied 171 for 5 in their stipulated 20 overs. Okera Bascome (49 off 35) and Deunte Darrel (47 not out off 25 balls) both missed their fifties but ensured that the team put up a total which was daunting enough for Nigeria. In reply, the West Africans, who are vying to qualify for their first ever T20 World Cup could only muster 118. Rodney Trott and Kamau Leverock scalped 2 wickets each for Bermuda.
Scores in brief:
Oman beat PNG by four wickets, ICC Academy, Dubai, UAEPNG 97 all out, 17.5 overs (Tony Ura 39, Jason Kila 17 not out; Jay Odedra 2-6, Fayyaz Butt 1-7)
Oman 98-6, 17.2 overs (Aamir Kaleem 30, Sandeep Goud 20, Zeeshan Maqsood 13; Sese Bau 1-4, Norman Vanua 1-17)
UAE beat Scotland by 37 runs, Dubai International Stadium, Dubai, UAEUAE 157-5, 20 overs (Rameez Shahzad 43 not out, Ashfaq Ahmed 38, Mohammad Usman 21, Rohan Mustafa 21; Tom Sole 3-24, Safyaan Sharif 2-22)
Scotland 120-9, 20 overs (Richie Berrington 34, Michael Leask 32, Craig Wallace 26; Qadeer Ahmed 3-18, Sultan Ahmed 2-12, Rohan Mustafa 2-25)
Bermuda beat Nigeria by 53 runs, Tolerance Oval, Abu Dhabi, UAEBermuda 171-5, 20 overs (Okera Bascome 49, Deunte Darrell 47; Daniel Ajeku 3-26, Abiodun Abioye 1-22)
Nigeria 118 all out, 19.5 overs (Ademola Onikoyi 32, Adeleke Oyede 25, Chimezie Onwuzulike 18; Kamau Leverock 2-14, Rodney Trott 2-26)
Jersey beat Kenya by 7 wickets, Zayed Cricket Stadium, Abu Dhabi, UAEKenya 127-6, 20 overs (Collins Obuya 49, Dhiren Gondaria 35, Shem Ngoche 15; Chuggy Perchard 4-15)
Jersey 131/3, 13.2 overs (Jonty Jenner 47 not out, Ben Stevens 32, Harrison Carlyon 23; Lucas Oluoch 1-15, Shem Ngoche 1-23, Pushpak Kerai 1-27)
Canada beat Singapore by 6 wickets, ICC Global Cricket Academy No 2, Dubai, UAESingapore 164/5, 20 overs (Surendran Chandramohan 51, Amanpreet Singh 36, Aritra Dutta 34; Navneet Dhaliwal 1-5, Junaid Siddiqui 1-25)
Canada 165-4, 18 overs (Ravinderpal Singh 79, Nitish Kumar 44; Vinoth Baskaran 2-27)
Hong Kong beat Namibia by 4 wickets, ICC Academy, Dubai, UAENamibia 131-8, 20 overs (JJ Smit 35, Christi Viljoen 25, Gerhard Erasmus 18; Waqas Barkat 3-25)
Hong Kong 132-6, 19.5 overs (Scott McKechnie 31 not out, Aizaz Khan 25, Simandeep Singh 19; Bernard Scholtz 3-7)
Ireland beat Netherlands by 40 runs, Dubai International Stadium, Dubai, UAEIreland 156/8, 20 overs (Gary Wilson 44, Mark Adair 24, Harry Tector 21; Timm van der Gugten 2-20, Roelof van der Merwe 2-24, Pieter Seelaar 2-34)
Netherlands 126, 20 overs (Ryan ten Doeschate 46, Tobias Visee 30; Craig Young 3-21, Mark Adair 3-28)