Aqib Ilyas’ 63(35) powered Oman to their second win, despite Singapore’s valiant effort at Kirtipur on Day 2 of the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup Final Asia. In Mulpani, Bahrain defended 146 against Hong Kong, China to register their first win of the tournament, keeping their World Cup hopes alive.
The hosts Nepal carried their winning momentum in the afternoon match in Kirtipur with another chase, beating Malaysia by 6 wickets in front of the home crowd. Similarly, the UAE too continue their run with a 5-wicket victory over Kuwait in Mulpani.
Oman vs Singapore
Winning the toss, Singapore invited Oman to bat first in the morning match at the TU Cricket Ground in Kirtipur. Oman had a decent start, adding up 41 runs and losing a wicket in the powerplay.
After the dismissal of Kashyap Prajapati for 12(19), Pratik Athavale and Aqib Ilyas added 50 runs between them. The partnership broke when Anish Paraam got the wicket of Athavale on 42(32).
Aqib Ilyas got to his sixth T20I half-century in the 14th over, after he struck 30 runs off the over on Paraam’s bowling. Ilyas went on to score 63 runs off 35 balls with 4 fours and 4 sixes, before being sent back by Janak Prakash.
Singapore bounced back in the game after Oman lost four wickets in the last four overs, adding 28 runs in the process, to end with 174/6 in 20 overs with Janak Prakash, Ramesh Kalimuthu and Anish Paraam all getting 2 wickets each for Singapore.
In reply, the Singaporean batting lineup put up a decent fight but the Omani bowlers ultimately had the final laugh. After losing both openers for under 50 runs, Surendran Chandramohan contributed with 41 runs off 31 balls, but was sent back after he was dismissed hit wicket. Manpreet Singh and Anish Paraam too added 26 and 31 valuable runs to the total respectively, but a lower order collapse saw Oman cross the finish line.
In the process of restricting Singapore to 152/8, Oman’s duo of Bilal Khan and Fayyaz Butt picked 2 wickets each in their four overs, not giving more than 6 runs per over. Shakeel Ahmed, Zeeshan Maqsood, Aqib Ilyas and Mohammad Nadeem all got 1 wicket apiece.
Aqib, for his match-winning all-round performance, was named the Player of the Match.
Brief Scores:
Oman 174/6 in 20.0 Overs (Aqib Ilyas 63, Janak Prakash 2-22) beat Singapore 152/8 in 20.0 Overs (Surendran Chandramohan 41, Fayyaz Butt 2-21) by 22 runs.
Bahrain vs Hong Kong, China
Hong Kong, China won the toss and elected to field first against Bahrain in the morning conditions of Mulpani. The Bahrain batting lineup could not challenge Hong Kong, China’s bowling attack as wickets continued to tumble throughout the innings.
Wicketkeeper-batsman Imran Ali made 62 runs off 43 balls with 5 fours and 3 sixes, but apart from that, Imran Anwar’s 15(14) was the highest score in the innings which had 21 extras.
Hong Kong, China’s Nasrulla Rana became the top bowler with 3-21 in 3.3 overs, followed by Ehsan Khan, Aizaz Khan, and Yasim Murtaza all getting 2 wickets each.
In reply, Bahrain kept on taking wickets to put Hong Kong, China on the backfoot. Both openers were sent back within the first three overs. The Hong Kong, China batsmen kept the scores flowing, but at the same time the Bahrain bowlers picked wickets in continuous intervals. Eventually, it was Bahrain who ended up in the winning side after Hong Kong, China lost all 10 wickets.
Anshuman Rath top scored for Hong Kong, China with a 30-ball 28, followed by a quickfire 21(11) by wicketkeeper Zeeshan Ali. Kuwait’s Abdul Mijad picked 3 wickets giving only 7 runs in 3.1 overs. Ali Dawood and Rizwan Butt also contributed with 2 wickets to help Bahrain seal the victory.
Brief Scores:
Bahrain 146/10 in 19.3 Overs (Imran Ali 62, Nasrulla Rana 3-21) beat Hong Kong, China 126/10 in 19.1 Overs (Anshuman Rath 28, Abdul Majid 3-7) by 20 runs.
Nepal vs Malaysia
In the jampacked TU Cricket Ground in Kirtipur, Malaysia won the toss and decided to bat against the hosts. Openers Syed Aziz and Zubaidi Zulkifle smashed boundaries all around the ground since the start of the innings and added 58 runs between them before Abinash Bohara dismissed Zulkifle for 24(16) to give Nepal their first breakthrough in 5.5 overs. That wicket invited a batting collapse for Malaysia, as they lost the next 8 wickets for 107 runs.
Syed Aziz top scored with 68(49) but six Malaysian batters being dismissed on single-digit scores meant Malaysia post 165/9 in 20 overs. Abinash Bohara, who had taken 3 wickets against Singapore the other day, picked 4 wickets in this match as well. Additionally, Sandeep Lamichhane, Gulshan Jha, and captain Rohit Paudel grabbed a wicket each.
Nepal started their chase in a hurry, with opener Kushal Bhurtel smashing 43 runs in 25 balls with 4 fours and 4 sixes. He was dismissed in 5.2 overs when the team’s total was 49, just 6 runs more than his personal total. After his dismissal, Kushal Malla joined the attack with 65(34), accompanied by opener Aasif Sheikh with his innings of 32(23). Sundeep Jora finished the chase with a 16-ball 18, to give Nepal their second win of the tournament.
Malaysia’s Muhammad Amir picked 3 wickets defending the total, with 2 of them being caught and bowled. Pavandeep Singh also picked a wicket in his 4-over spell.
Malla was named the Player of the Match for his destructive innings, where he had struck 7 sixes and 2 fours.
Brief Scores:
Nepal 166/4 in 18 Overs (Kusha Malla 65, Muhammad Amir 3-18) beat Malaysia 165/9 in 20 Overs (Syed Aziz 68, Abinash Bohara 4-27) by 6 wickets.
Kuwait vs United Arab Emirates
A horrible batting collapse saw Kuwait lose their second match in a row against UAE in Mulpani in the afternoon match. Kuwait decided to bat first after winning the toss, and went after the UAE bowlers straightaway, having struck 21 runs in the first two overs. But then, the collapse began with Junaid Siddique picking two wickets in the same over, dismissing Kuwait openers Diju Sheeli for 6 and Ravija Sandaruwan for 22.
Bilal Tahir, Shiraz Khan, and Yasin Patel tried to reconstruct the Kuwait innings with scores of 15, 12, and 10 in the middle order, but could not accelerate enough to put up a par score, as they could manage only 88/8 in their 20 overs. The UAE’s Junaid Siddique, Nilansh Keswani, Ali Naseer, and Zahoor Khan all picked 2 wickets each in the process.
The UAE would have wanted to chase down the target of 89 without losing a wicket, but captain Mohammed Aslam’s spell of 3-17 made it difficult for them. Aslam dismissed Muhammad Waseem on 33(23), Asif Khan on 3(6), and Ali Naseer on a 2-ball duck.
Yasin Patel and Shiraz Khan too assisted with 1-1 wickets to put the UAE on 85/5 in 13.3 overs, but the target turned out to be too low for Kuwait to maintain pressure on the UAE batters. Basil Hameed finished off with a six in 14.2 overs to give keep their winning momentum.
Ali Naseer was named the Player of the Match for the second consecutive time, but this time it was for his bowling performance of 2/14.
Brief Scores:
United Arab Emirates 94/5 in 14.2 Overs (Muhammad Waseem 33, Mohammed Aslam 3-17) beat Kuwait 88/8 in 20 Overs (Ravija Sandaruwan 22, Zahoor Khan 2-13) by 5 wickets.
About the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup qualification
For the first time, 20 teams will form part of the event and will be divided into four groups of five. The top two teams in each of the groups will move to a Super Eight phase, where the remaining teams will be split into two groups of four. The top two in each group will then make their way to the semi-finals.
