ICC World T20 Qualifiers Day 1: Scotland and Afghanistan register victories

The captains of teams of Group B of the World T20 Qualifiers 2015 with the trophy

The ICC World T20 Qualifiers kicked off on Thursday with hosts Scotland taking on the UAE, followed by the clash between the Afghans and the Dutch. Here is a brief report of what happened on day one of the tournament.

Scotland vs UAE – Scottish openers make light work of target

UAE 109/10 in 18.1 overs (Leask 3-20,Watt 3-28) defeated by Scotland 110/1 in 10 overs(Munsey 62*,Coetzer 39,Naveed 1-26)

The ICC World T20 Qualifiers kicked off with hosts Scotland registering a mammoth 9-wicket victory over the UAE in Edinburgh. Being inserted to bat first, UAE started off in an agressive fashion but the introduction of spinner Leask and Watt demolished their batting lineup.

Early on, Faizan Asif(UAE) started the innings with some magnificient shots to the fence but a slightly ambitious pull shot saw him caught by Callum Macloed at deep square leg off Alasdair Evans.The attacking approach of UAE batsmen was expertly handled by the Scottish spinners who created many catch chances and prevented a big partnership from the middle order.

Later in the innings, Mohammed Naveed showed determination to lift the score with an unbeaten 19.

In reply, Munsey and Coetzer flourished with their bat and scored runs freely. They raced to 76-0 by the end of the powerplay and looked set to win. George Munsey looked in great touch as he reached the tournament’s first individual fifty with his ninth boundary. Naveed bowled Coetzer(39, 4*9) at the end of the eighth over with only 14 runs required for Scotland to win.

Man of the Match – George Munsey: ”The performance was really good. We started from ball one and put a lot of pressure on them. We took all the catches that were given to us and were on top from the start to the end, which is great. We are really happy with the buildup. We’ve had a great series against Ireland and then great couple of matches here before and we just want to go the way we are going.”

Afghanistan vs Netherlands – Afghan team effort thwarts Dutch charge

Afghanistan 162/7 in 20 overs (Shenwari 44, Najib 33, Nabi 33; Malik 3-36,Bukhari 2-25) beat Netherlands 130/10 in 19.4 overs ( Cooper 36; D Zadran 3-17,S Ashraf 3-27)

Things were not going well for Afghanistan in Edinburgh on Thursday but they held their nerves and reversed their situation to register an important 32-run win against The Netherlands. After being inserted to bat, Afghanistan seemed to be heading towards a meagre total at 50-3 in 8.5 overs, but their middle order played some solid cricket to lift their score to 162.

Nabi and Shenwari played responsibly, building a platform for a good finish after they were 3 down early in the innings. After Nabi fell, Najibullah Zadran’s introduction in the game triggered their scoring rate as he blasted 4 sixes in his 11-ball 33. Shafiq also blasted 2 sixes in his 3-ball 13, taking their final score to 162.

Chasing the total, Netherlands started off well and the early exit of in-form Myburgh was of little concern as Cooper had all his guns blazing. Cooper raced to 36, but then was dismissed by Ashraf. After this wicket, the downslide began for the Dutch side. Afghan bowlers stuck to a tight line as the collapse ended at the score of 130, well short of the target.

This win is an ideal start for the Afghans who will look to challenge for the trophy this time too. However, the Dutch, who were in good spirits after their series win against Nepal, will look forward to a better response from their middle order batting and death over bowling.

Man of the Match – Sharafuddin Ashraf: “Happy to win the first game but still a lot of matches to go. I just wanted to stick line and length. We have plans for the Twenty 20 World Cup in India as well. We are very confident, we’ve worked really hard. We’ll try our best to perform well.”