ICC World Cup Qualifiers 2018 - Day 3, Round up

The road to World Cup is pretty clear for Windies as of now, all they need to do is win the last group game in the ICC World Cup Qualifiers 2018. The likes of Scotland and UAE registered very important victories as well, keeping them in check for a place in the final stages. The biggest surprise of the day was Hong Kong’s performance against a powerful Afghan unit, who were clobbered in every department.

West Indies were up against Papua New Guinea at the Harare Sports Club. Centurion from the previous game, Tony Ura, captain Assad Vala, Norman Vanua and Mahuru Dai chipped in with important contributions for the side. They were bowled for 200 runs in 42.4 overs. Carlos Brathwaite impressed everyone with a fantastic spell of 5/27 in his 10 overs.

Chris Gayle didn’t feature in the game and the opening duo of Hetmyer and Lewis failed to deliver. Despite losing some early wickets, Jason Holder and Shai Hope stuck together and added 143 runs for the 5th wicket. Holder fell just one run shy of a well-deserved hundred, but the skipper ensured his side went over the line after losing 4 wickets for 58 runs.

The United Arab Emirates registered a huge win against a much better side – the Netherlands. Battig first skipper Rohan Mustafa fired all cylinders with the ball, chipping in with a fabulous spell of 5/26 in 9.3 overs. The Dutch got bowled out for 176 runs in 46.3 overs with Wesley Barresi and Ryan ten Doeschate being the top-scorers.

Opener Chirag Suri chipped in with a brilliant performance for the Gulf Nation, helping them chase down the total in 44 overs. It was a tough road for them, but Muhammad Usman, Suri, and Ghulam Shabber ensured they kept their composure and took their side over the line. It was UAE’s second win in the qualifiers whilst the Dutch have lost both their games thus far.

Another authoritative performance from the Scottish

After defeating mighty Afghanistan and Hong Kong in their previous games, Scotland registered another thumping victory to stay on top of the table in Group B. Nepal got bowled out for 149 runs in 47.4 overs batting first. Stu Whittingham registered impressive figures of 3/35 and Safyaan Sharif and Alasdair Evans picked up braces.

It wasn’t an easy run chase for the European side as the Nepalese bowlers gave it their best shot. It took them 41.3 overs to chase down 153 runs and they lost six wickets in the process. Whilst Coetzer registered 88 off 136 balls and remained unbeaten, the first-ever IPL recruitment from Nepal – Sandeep Lamichhane registered handy figures of 2/31 in 10 overs.

The dream to play in the World Cup suffered a painful death for the Afghan contingent, who entered the tournament as one of the favourites to go ahead. Hong Kong posted 241 runs batting first in 50 overs. Anshuman Rath piled up an impressive 65 off 90 balls with good contributions coming from the lower order. Mohammad Nabi and Mujeeb Zadran picked up 3 wickets each for Afghanistan.

The going got tough for Rashid Khan and troops in the rain-marred game. A lot of batsmen like Mohammad Nabi, Najibullah Zadran, Javed Ahmadi, and Ihsanullah got starts but failed to stick around for long. Ehsan Khan’s spell of 4/33 stemmed the run flow completely and got Afghanistan in a precarious situation. After the rain reduced the game to 46 overs, Afghanistan fell 30 runs short of the revised target, suffering their 3rd consecutive defeat in the tournament.

Brief Scores

Windies vs PNG, Group A

PNG: 200 all out in 42.4 overs (Assad Vala 57, Mahuru Dai 35; Carlos Brathwaite 5/27)

Windies: 201/4 in 43 overs (Jason Holder 99*, Shai Hope 49*)

Netherlands vs UAE, Group A

Netherlands: 176 all out in 46.3 overs (Wesley Barresi 37; Rohan Mustafa 5/26)

UAE: 177/4 in 44 overs (Chirag Suri 78*, Muhammad Usman 37*)

Afghanistan vs Hong Kong, Group B

Hong Kong: 241/8 in 50 overs (Anshuman Rath 65; Mujeeb Zadran 3/26, Mohammad Nabi 3/48)

Afghanistan(DL Method): 195/9 in 46 overs (Mohammad Nabi 38; Ehsan Khan 4/33)

Scotland vs Nepal, Group B

Nepal: 149 all out in 47.3 overs (Paras Khadka 63; Stu Whittingham 3/35)

Scotland: 153/6 in 41.3 overs (Kyle Coetzer 88*; Sandeep Lamichhane 3/21)