Afghanistan and Scotland win Desert T20 opener
Mohammad Nabi’s two sixes set a win for Afghanistan in second game of Desert T20 Challenge 2017. It was a low scoring match which finally ends when Mohammad Nabi managed to send ball out of the park on the bowling of Joshua Little. Earlier Ireland put 125 runs in their 20 overs. Spin bowlers of Afghanistan were on top of the game.
After winning the toss Ireland opted to bat first, Stirling and Poynter put 36 runs off 32 balls in first wicket. Ireland top order played sensibly but unable to post a good total, because of economical bowling by spin bowlers. Afghan spin trio took all six wickets, two each. Amir Hamza, Mohammad Nabi and Rashid Khan finished their bowling figures 2 for 21, 2 for 27 and 2 for 22 respectively.
While chasing this small total, Afghanistan’s both openers gave a strong foundation to chase. At half-way of the innings Afghanistan was at a better position when they were 2 for 66. Najeeb tarakai and Mohammad Shahzad made 31 and 29 runs respectively. Irish bowlers dragged them back when they got 5 wickets at 99 runs in 16th over, but Mohammad Nabi brisk 26 runs stutter Irish team’s dream of winning this match. Mulder remained their best bowler, he took two wickets in his four overs bowling spell. Mohammad Nabi was awarded as a player of the match.
In high scoring opening match Scotland win against Hong Kong by 24 runs. After winning the toss Scotland chose to bat first. They scored heavily with the help of MacLeod and Berrington identical scores of 60 runs. They both put record 127 runs at third wicket. Scotland finished their innings at 189 in 20 overs. Only Ehsan Khan was their successful bowler who took 2 wickets at an economical spell of 26 in his four overs.
Hong Kong’s chase had dents, when they lost their top order at 50 runs in 9th over. Shahid Wasif and Ehsan Khan gave some late impetus but it wasn’t enough to chase down that total. Shahid made 40 runs off 25 balls and lost his wicket to Wheal in 18th over. However Ehsan remained unbeaten 42 runs off 22 balls included 3 fours and 3 Sixes. Hong Kong finished at 165 in their 20 overs, which wasn’t enough to give 2 points to Hong Kong. MacLeod was awarded as player of the match.
