Oman sealed qualification for the next stage of the ICC Men’s World T20 Qualifier after Jatinder Singh’s unbeaten 68 guided his side to a comprehensive eight-wicket win over Canada.
Earlier in the day, PNG maintained their place at the summit of Group A with their fourth win from five matches in the competition, beating Singapore by 43 runs.
Kiplin Doriga finished unbeaten on 43 not out, with Charles Amini also making 41 not out, before Damien Ravu took four for 18 as PNG’s score of 180 for four proved beyond Singapore.
After Tony Ura (30) and Assad Vala (24) provided an early platform, PNG recovered from a wobble thanks to fireworks from Doriga and Amini who smashed seven boundaries between them to propel the innings from average to an above par effort.
In the chase, Ravu’s seam was the undoing of a Singapore side who, aside from Tim David’s explosive 44 from 26 balls, were a distant second best in both innings.
Elsewhere in Group A, Namibia secured their third straight win as they breezed past Kenya by 87 runs after Bernard Scholtz took four for 12 with the ball.
Stephan Baard (51) and Gerhard Erasmus (52 not out) both scored half-centuries as Namibia posted 181 for five before Kenya eventually fell to 94 all out in 18.5 overs in their chase.
Meanwhile, Ireland obtained a routine win over Jersey by eight wickets to remain in the Group B mix as Mark Adair took three wickets and Paul Stirling hit 58 not out.
PNG ease past Singapore by 43 runs
Kiplin Doriga (43 not out) and medium pace seamer Damien Ravu (four for 18) did the damage for PNG with bat and ball as their total of 180 for four proved too good for Singapore.
PNG’s opening duo Tony Ura (30) and Assad Vala (24) produced a 61-run opening stand before three quick wickets left them exposed at 81 for three, but Charles Amini (41 not out) and Doriga hit quickfire unbeaten 40s to set a formidable target for their opponents.
Surendran Chandramohan was dismissed for a diamond duck as Singapore’s chase got off to the worst possible start and despite the best efforts of Tim David (44) and Rohan Rangarajan (27), Ravu’s four wickets ensured Singapore could only reach 137 for nine from 20 overs.
PNG captain Assad Vala said: “We just focused on getting the basics right, just because we were on TV we didn’t want to be flashy.
“A lot of people wrote us off with the way we played coming into this tournament but that was a different format and playing T20 cricket really suits the boys.”
Singapore captain Amjad Mahboob said: “It was a very disappointing game for us, we have one game to play and now we’re in the position where teams are expecting to beat others but that’s nothing new for us.
“Credit goes to the PNG side, they played very well and they outclassed us in all departments. We have a young side, we will bounce back. Maybe not this tournament but in the future.”
Ireland overpower Jersey by eight wickets
Jersey proved no match for Ireland as Mark Adair’s precision with the ball helped his side secure their third win after restricting their opponents to just 105 all out in 20 overs.
Adair struck with the fourth ball of the game and claimed two more scalps for just ten runs as Ireland squeezed Jersey into submission, with Ben Stevens’ 25 the best score of the innings.
Paul Stirling hit a muscular 58 not out from 37 balls in typical fashion and, joined by Andy Balbirnie (33), steered his side to within touching distance of a comfortable target – one they reached with six overs to spare.
Ireland player and man of the match Mark Adair said: “It was nice to get a win and well done by the batters to go at it quickly at the end to make sure run rate is ticking along too.
“We’ve got guys on the bench who are good enough to be match winners and Youngy [Craig Young] came in and did his job perfectly, bowling brilliantly – we’ve got good depth on the bench.
“It keeps pushing the lads on the field to be better. Onto Nigeria tomorrow so fingers crossed we’ll get that sorted, it won’t be an easy game at all and every game here is must win.”
Jersey captain Charles Perchard said: “It was a professional performance by a professional side and their class shone through.
“We weren’t quite at the races. We’ll have to play better now that’s for sure, we’ll go away and think about how we can be at our best. There will be some changes to how we play and hopefully we’ll put on a better show against Oman.”
Namibia prove too strong for Kenya by 87 runs
Namibia’s Bernard Scholtz (four for 12) took his tournament wickets tally to ten as he spun Kenya into submission after his side’s batsmen set a big target of 182.
Stephan Baard’s half-century (51) got Namibia’s effort with the bat off to a good start before a middle-order blast from Gerhard Erasmus of 52 not out from just 25 balls and Craig Williams’ 28 left Kenya needing a mammoth innings to prevail.
Scholtz, who is now the tournament’s joint-leading wicket-taker, took crucial wickets throughout the innings as Kenya succumbed to 94 all out from 18.5 overs as JJ Smit also claimed three for 19.
Namibia captain Gerhard Erasmus said: “Basically it comes down to if you’re in on these wickets, you can do some damage. I think these wickets are flat enough to give yourself options.
“It’s then a matter of executing under pressure for that bowler and if he doesn’t as a batsman you have to make him pay. If he does then fair play, you have to take what you can get.”
Kenya captain Shem Ngoche said: “It’s very disappointing, I think it was a game we really wanted to win to give ourselves a chance to make it to the second phase of the tournament.
“But unfortunately, things didn’t go the way we wanted. So, I just have to take it as a bad day in the office for us. We were very confident and we told ourselves we can go for the score.
“One side of the field was short so that was probably the side of the field we wanted to target, but unfortunately we didn’t get the start that we wanted and we kept losing wickets.”
Oman breeze past Canada in eight-wicket win
Oman moved to within one win of securing an automatic spot at the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup after defeating Canada by eight wickets at the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup Qualifier.
Jatinder Singh hit an unbeaten 68 and Aqib Ilyas 60 as Oman chased down their target of 145 in 14.5 overs with a modicum of ease to make it four wins from five at the top of Group B.
Canada earlier hit 144 for nine from their 20 overs, Srimantha Wijeyeratne top scoring with 56 as Zeeshan Maqsood’s three for 25 reined in the Canadians from at one stage being 75 for one.
Canada captain Navneet Dhaliwal said: “I think we were around 20 runs short but the way they played the power play was incredible.
“It wasn’t about bad bowling from us but it was amazing batting from them and we couldn’t do anything.
“He [Saad Bin Zafar] is not 100% and he can’t bat so that is trouble for us but we have a day off and then we are going to try and come together to beat UAE.”
Oman captain Zeeshan Maqsood said: “Jatinder and Aqib played brilliantly and that was the kind of knock we required because we knew we had to win this game.
“If our bowlers are doing their jobs then the batsmen do to and that will help us with the games ahead. It doesn’t matter whether we bat or bowl first against Jersey, we can’t take it easy against them because they are a good team.”
Scores in brief:
PNG beat Singapore by 43 runs, Dubai International Cricket Stadium
PNG 180-4, 20 overs (Kiplin Doriga 43 not out, Charles Amini 41 not out, Tony Ura 30; Navin Param 2-24, Tim David 1-33)
Singapore 137-9, 20 overs (Tim David 44, Rohan Rangarajan 27; Damien Ravu 4-18)
Ireland beat Jersey by eight wickets, Tolerance Oval, Abu Dhabi
Jersey 105 all out, 20 overs (Ben Stevens 25, Dominic Blampied 20; Mark Adair 3-10, David Delany 2-10)
Ireland 110-2, 14 overs (Paul Stirling 58 not out, Andy Balbirnie 33; Charles Perchard 1-16)
Namibia beat Kenya by 87 runs, Dubai International Cricket Stadium
Namibia 181-5, 20 overs (Gerhard Erasmus 52 not out, Stephan Baard 51, Craig Williams 28 not out; Sachin Bhudia 1-6, Collins Obuya 1-22)
Kenya 94 all out, 18.5 overs (Rakep Patel 30, Aman Gandhi 22; Bernard Scholtz 4-12, JJ Smit 3-19)
Oman beat Canada by eight wickets, Zayed Cricket Stadium, Abu Dhabi
Canada 144-9, 20 overs (Srimantha Wijeyeratne 56, Nitish Kumar 22, Ravinderpal Singh 21; Zeeshan Maqsood 3-25, Khawar Ali 2-18)
Oman 145-2, 14.5 overs (Jatinder Singh 68 not out, Aqib Ilyas 60; Jeremy Gordon 1-36)
© ICC Business Corporation FZ LLC 2018
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