ICC T20 World Cup Qualifier 2019: Day 1, Round-up

The ICC T20 World Cup Qualifier 2019 kicked off with three games in Dubai and one in Abu Dhabi. The first match of the tournament was played between Scotland and Singapore. In this high-pressure encounter, Singapore managed to get over the line by just 2 runs after the heroics of Selladore Vijayakumar with the ball.

A fifty from Surendra Chandramohan and other handy contributions helped Singapore get to 168. In reply, Scotland only managed 166 runs leading to a disappointment. Selladore accounted for three wickets in the innings. It was a cakewalk for Ireland in the following encounter against Hong Kong. After winning the toss, Hong Kong opted to bat first. However, no one else except Kinchit Shah made significant contributions.

With the help of his 79 off 54 balls, the team got to 153/5 in 20 overs. Ireland, though, got to the target quite easily. Paul Stirling and Andy Balbirnie set the tone with brilliant half-centuries while Harry Tector was involved in the finishing act. In the third game, the Netherlands completely dominated Kenya. Knocks from Max O’Dowd and Ben Cooper helped them get to 166/4 in 20 overs.

The likes of Tobias Visee and Peter Seelaar also were brilliant with quickfire batting. Despite the 63 from Collins Obuya, Kenya only scored 136 and lost the game by 30 runs.

In the final game of the day, Oman crushed the hosts UAE. Three wicket hauls from Bilal Khan and Fayyaz Butt restricted the hosts to 108/9. Then, Aqib Ilyas and Aamir Kaleem played sensible knocks which ensured that the team finished on the positive side of the result to register their first win in the tournament.

Brief scores of the matches played on Day 1 in the ICC T20 World Cup Qualifier 2019:

Scotland vs Singapore – 1st Match

SIN: 168/6 in 20 overs (Surendra Chandramohan 51, Arutra Dutta 32, Josh Davey 2/26)

SCO: 166/9 in 20 overs (George Munsey 46, Kyle Coetzer 38, Selladore Vijayakumar 3/16)

Singapore won by 2 runs

Hong Kong vs Ireland – 2nd Match

HK: 153/5 in 20 overs (Kinchit Shah 79, Haroon Arshad 20, Mark Adair 2/22)

IRE: 155/2 in 17.2 overs (Andy Balbirnie 70*, Paul Stirling 62, Aizaz Khan 1/31)

Ireland won by 8 wickets

Netherlands vs Kenya – 3rd Match

NED: 166/4 in 20 overs (Max O’Dowd 53, Ben Cooper 36, Collins Obuya 2/16)

KEN: 136/8 in 20 overs (Collins Obuya 63, Rakep Patel 26, Paul van Meekeren 3/27)

Netherlands won by 30 runs

United Arab Emirates vs Oman – 4th Match

UAE: 108/9 in 20 overs (Muhammad Usman 27, Rohan Mustafa 24, Fayyaz Butt 3/16)

OMAN: 109/3 in 18.2 overs (Aqib Ilyas 45*, Aamir Kaleem 27, Ahmed Raza 1/23)

Oman won by 7 wickets