Oman crushed Namibia by five wickets with a full over to spare, hunting down Namibia’s 148 for 9 by powering to 150 for 5 in the fourth and final Qualifying play-off of the World Twenty20 Qualifier at The Village in Malahide on Thursday (July 23).
Hong Kong eventually squeezed out the two runs it needed off the last ball to ensure a berth in cricket’s biggest T20 world event for the second time in a row.
Papua New Guinea face Afghanistan in a victor takes all clash tomorrow for a spot at next year’s World Twenty20 cricket tournament in India.
Chasing 162 to win, Hong Kong were initially buoyed by wicketkeeper Jamie Atkinson’s innings of 47 before Mark Chapman took over and hammered a quickfire 40 off just 25 deliveries.
Also on Tuesday, Hong Kong recorded a dramatic five-wicket win over Afghanistan to book its second straight trip to the World Twenty20.
Nabi bowled several full tosses and a wide as Hong Kong’s Babar Hayat hit a four, six, three and finally a two off the last ball for 15 runs to seal victory. But Siddiqui did not get overexcited, and unfurled a glorious drive through deep extra cover next ball. And although Bernard Scholtz, the offspinner, took three wickets to dent Netherlands’ charge, it reached 137 for 6 in 19.2 overs.
On the other hand, now Afghanistan team to win next game for make its space in mega event. “We’re in the midst of an important tournament and we would not like to be distracted by any controversies”, the team official said. Two overs later, Kinchit hustled for a spectacular effort to give Nadeem’s brother Irfan a wicket, circling around 30 yards from deep square leg to a skier from Najibullah Zadran before diving to claim the chance at deep midwicket making it 122 for 4 with 21 balls to go in the innings. Haseeb came back late to snare the wickets of Shenwari and Nabi, both brilliantly caught by Chapman at long-on, to finish with 3 for 28 and Shafiqullah’s run out hesitating for a single ended the 20th.
They joined the ICC as an affiliate member in 2000, gaining associate status last year, and can now look forward to their first appearance at worldwide cricket’s top table.
Afghanistan put up a competitive total of 161 for seven thanks to opener Nawroz Mangal’s knock of 53 off 36 balls, which included six boundaries and two sixes.
