2015 World Cup Qualifying Tournament

[troll3y]

The ten-team tournament commenced today, with the best of the Associates and Affiliates vying for the two remaining places among the big boys in the 2015 World Cup (one qualifying team in each WC group). Sadly, we'll be lucky if the ICC decides to stream the last three matches of the series, so everyone is relying on textual updates for these games. The first round of matches saw a couple of upsets:

Hong Kong 263/7 (50) Irfan Ahmed 75 (123), Tanwir Afzal 42 (38), Wardlaw 10-0-57-3
Scotland 246 (48.4/50 ov) Mommsen 118, Nadeem Ahmed 9.4-1-37-4, Haseeb Amjad 9-1-53-3
Hong Kong won by 17 runs

Not expected after Scotland's strong warm-up games. They did well, but not well enough. Safyaan Sharif bowled four maidens in his 0/37, but runs leaked elsewhere. Their second-highest score with the bat after Mommsen was 34. Hong Kong's bowling lineup has adjusted well after Munir Dar's recent suspension.

Kenya 249/9 (50) C Obuya 106 (120), T Odoyo 42* (34), Haoda 9-0-50-4
P.N.G. 250/2 (42.5/50 ov) Siaka 103 (83), Vala 105* (109)
P.N.G. won by 8 wickets (with 43 balls remaining)

His warm-up games weren't successful, but Collins Obuya flourished when it mattered. Even with a typical Thomas Odoyo cameo towards the end of the innings, it went in vain. Opener Lega Siaka and Brisbane Heat recruit Assad Vala put on 154 in 136 balls to waltz PNG home.

U.A.E. 297/8 (50) Shaiman Anwar 109 (96), Patil 74 (78), Regmi 10-0-43-3
Nepal 195 (48.1/50 ov) Vesawkar 54 (87), Kamran Shazad 10-0-46-3
U.A.E. won by 102 runs

Shaiman Anwar and Swapnil Patil put on 145 in the middle overs to post the highest score in the competition so far. Nepal lost their top five for 53 runs, though almost managed to bat our their 50 overs with helpful contributions from the lower order.

Uganda 152 (46.1) Mukasa 44 (56), Mutyagaba 36 (77), Rippon 10-4-4/15
Netherlands 155/3 (30.1/50 ov) Barresi 61* (70), Borren 50 (56)
Netherlands won by 7 wickets (with 119 balls remaining)

Uganda were a solid 76/0 before only managing to double their score in their whole-innings collapse, with Michael Rippon's tricky spin leading the charge. The Dutch batters started too well for the result to ever be in doubt.


Canada and Namibia get their campaigns under way in the next round of games on Wednesday.

 

[SLA]

Ridiculous system engineered in favour of the global elite. Every country should qualify on an level playing field.

 

[nairbe]

Hong Kong 263/7 (50) Irfan Ahmed 75 (123), Tanwir Afzal 42 (38), Wardlaw 10-0-57-3
Scotland 246 (48.4/50 ov) Mommsen 118, Nadeem Ahmed 9.4-1-37-4, Haseeb Amjad 9-1-53-3
Hong Kong won by 17 runs

Kenya 249/9 (50) C Obuya 106 (120), T Odoyo 42* (34), Haoda 9-0-50-4
P.N.G. 250/2 (42.5/50 ov) Siaka 103 (83), Vala 105* (109)
P.N.G. won by 8 wickets (with 43 balls remaining)

U.A.E. 297/8 (50) Shaiman Anwar 109 (96), Patil 74 (78), Regmi 10-0-43-3
Nepal 195 (48.1/50 ov) Vesawkar 54 (87), Kamran Shazad 10-0-46-3
U.A.E. won by 102 runs

Uganda 152 (46.1) Mukasa 44 (56), Mutyagaba 36 (77), Rippon 10-4-4/15
Netherlands 155/3 (30.1/50 ov) Barresi 61* (70), Borren 50 (56)
Netherlands won by 7 wickets (with 119 balls remaining).

So what has happened to Afghanistan? they were doing really well 2 years ago. PNG win is a great result for them, they could do with making it through with the Cup being played here they would get some good support. Thanks for the Info i don't follow the fringe teams and comps much.

 

[troll3y]

So what has happened to Afghanistan? they were doing really well 2 years ago.

Ireland and Afghanistan have already qualified for the World Cup, having finished 1st and 2nd in the WCL Division 1 50-over tournament. The remaining six teams in Div 1 joined the top two teams from each of Div 2 and Div 3 to form this Qualifying tournament.

PNG win is a great result for them, they could do with making it through with the Cup being played here they would get some good support.

I've noticed a surprising amount of support for PNG in Australia, which is a great thing. SACA invited the PNG national team to play in their top-flight Grade cricket competition, where PNG won the T20 tournament, so they do play well in Australian conditions. They've done exceptionally well in recent years.

 

[troll3y]

Four games played in the last two days:

UAE 286/6 (50) Amjad Ali 91 (118), Khurram Khan 88 (84), Khurram Chohan 10-0-63-3
Canada 206/6 (50) Hansra 100* (119), Khurram Khan 9-1-35-2, Mohammad Naveed 10-0-36-2
United Arab Emirates won by 80 runs

The Emirates have really impressed this tournament, taking to the New Zealand conditions really well with bat and ball. The runs have been spread around the scorecard as well, wtih Amjad Ali and Khurram Khan following on the success of Shaman Anwar and Swapnil Patil from the last game. Canada were shot to 9/3 before Jimmy Hansra put on 90 with Raza-ur-Rehman, before batting out the 50 overs with the middle order and earning himself a hard-fought century.


Namibia 253/6 (50) Snyman 74 (74), Viljoen 46* (47), Mudassar Bukhari 10-0-40-3
Netherlands 162 (36.5) Rippon 44* (73), Myburgh 40 (35), Viljoen 6.5-0-33-4
Namibia won by 91 runs

This was considered an upset to most, including me. After being sent in, Namibia's top order all got decent starts, but it took to Gerrie Snyman at number six for someone to reach 50. His experience did the job superbly, anchoring the middle of the innings to post a respectable team total. The Dutch lost wickets regularly, reduced to 89/6 in 15 overs at Stephan Myburgh's fall. Christi Viljoen's great all-round performance came second to Snyman's man-of-the-match performance, but was just as crucial.


Uganda 105 (35.5) Mukasa 33 (39), CJ Amini 10-3-19-6
PNG 107/1 (17) Siaka 65 (55), Vala 37 (40, Ura 4 (8)
Papua New Guinea won by 9 wickets (with 198 balls remaining)

Uganda have a big problem on their hands, this being the second game in a row where they've lost all ten wickets while only doubling their score. After a 53-run opening stand in 11.3 overs, the top-middle order hasn't built on the start. PNG's spinners accounted for eight wickets, headed by Charles Amini's six. PNG's only concern is Tony Ura's second successive failing, after his blistering success at the World T20 Qualifier. Thankfully for them, that blistering form now rests with Lega Siaka and Assad Vala.


Scotland 249/7 (50) Coleman 64* (67), MacLeod 46 (48), Sompal Kami 8-0-35-3
Nepal 159 (46.1) Malla 34 (61), Wardlaw 8.1-0-32-3, Majid Haq 10-3-24-2
Scotland won by 90 runs

A Paras Khadka-less Nepal bowled fairly economically for 46 overs, before leaking 51 in the last four. It's nice to see Freddie Coleman scoring runs again, though I'm still getting used to him not opening. With him at five, and Rob Taylor and Richie Berrington at six and seven, though, the order looks strong. After then losing Sagar Pun on the first ball of the chase (taken, surprisingly, by medium pacer Rob Taylor), Nepal couldn't put together a long-standing partnership. Eight batsmen scored between 10 and 35 before the innings succumbed. It's the second game in a row that they have failed to cross 200 and bat out their 50 overs, but as they showed in the World Cricket League, they are capable of finishing tournaments very strongly.

 

[troll3y]

I've been distracted for the last several days (not in the least of which by cricket's possible imminent death), so while I still keenly followed the tournament, I haven't been able to write up post-mortems.


The last round of matches in the group stage were today, with Nepal and Uganda having already played their four games (and not winning any in their respective groups -- extremely surprising for Nepal, particularly.)


Group A
United Arab Emirates 249 (48.1) Khurram Khan 78 (68), Amjad Ali 49 (69), Haseeb Amjad 9.1-1-33-3
Hong Kong 227 (49.4) Chapman 59 (68), Hayat 46* (52), Guruge 10-2-39-4
United Arab Emirates won by 22 runs

The UAE needed a win to guarantee a ticket to the Super Sixes without having to rely on NRR and Scotland losing to Canada, and looked set for an imposing score after a 22, 49, and 78 from the top three. At 140/3 after 30 overs, though, the middle and lower order weren't able to capitalise, losing wickets regularly enough to fold for 249. I had backed Hong Kong to chase 250, given their current form, but the UAE bowlers fought hard and made run-scoring difficult. Mark Chapman, batting at four, scored frequently to keep the total moving, and Babar Hayat's efforts in the middle were handy, but when Chapman fell at 139/5 after 35.4, the chase became that little bit harder. The required rate became too much, as Hong Kong succumbed in the final over of the innings.


Scotland 341/9 (50) MacLeod 175 (141), Machan 68 (70), Khurram Chohan 10-0-68-5
Canada 171 (39.2) Hamza Tariq 71 (70), Sharif 8.2-2-23-2, Wardlaw 9-2-30-2
Scotland won by 170 runs

In short, both teams needed to win: third-placed Scotland couldn't rely on Hong Kong beating the UAE, and fourth-placed Canada also needed to overturn their Net Run Rate. After Scotland were sent in to bat, Calum MacLeod floored the accelerator to take Scotland to 169/2 wtih Matt Machan by the 28th over. Scotland looked set for 350, but six wickets in the last five overs brought the total back to a daunting 341. Golden arm Robert Taylor took a wicket in Canada's first over, and Scotland's experiment with giving him the new ball has been highly successful. Canada were 65/5 by 15 overs, and wicketkeeper Hamza Tariq was the only one to cross 30 before the team fell for 171 in the 40th over.


Group B
Namibia 163 (48.4) Snyman 54 (94), Dai 10-1-34-3, CJ Amini 10-0-24-2
Papua New Guinea 164/2 (25) Siaka 112* (82)
P.N.G. won by 8 wickets (with 150 balls remaining)

First versus second in Group B saw Namibia winning the toss and electing to bat, then being reduced to 16/4 before being steadied a little by Craig Williams and Gerrie Snyman coming in at six. That 51-run stand was followed by handy partnerships, but only Snyman crossed 30. Lega Siaka continued his press for Man of the Series with a blistering 112 not out with nine fours and seven sixes. Notably, Jason Kila played his first game for PNG in this tournament, re-joining the national team after quite a successful time playing with the East Asia Pacific team in the Australian Country Cricket Championship. He only made 11 opening with Siaka, coming in for the out-of-form Tony Ura, but he will be a significant addition to an already solid team; he'll probably replace Ura as opener, but I'd like to have seen him bat in the middle order as he usually does with Ura back in form.


Netherlands 265/6 (50) Barresi 137* (150), Szwarczynski 57 (94), Onyango 10-1-50-2
Kenya 266/6 (35.4) Irfan Karim 108 (84), Ragheb Aga 86 (70), Ahsan Malik 8.4-0-54-3
Kenya won by 4 wickets (with 86 balls remaining)

Incredible run chase, this was! I had gone to the nets during the innings break, writing Kenya off for the win let alone chasing the target in 36 overs to qualify for the Super Sixes on NRR at the Netherlands' expense. Irfan Karim came out blazing, and Ragheb Aga was ingeniously promoted to number three, as Kenya barnstormed to an unbelieveable 240/3 after just 31.2 overs. Mudassar Bukhari and Ashan Malik took three wickets each, including three in twelve balls, but Steve Tikolo (coming in at seven) and Morris Ouma saw Kenya home.


No one has done the current standings for the Super Sixes, but PNG already have four points having beaten the other two Group B qualifiers. I haven't done Net Run Rate, but an unranked table based solely on points looks like this:

Team      Pts
PNG       4
Namibia   2
Scotland   2
Hong Kong  2
UAE       2
Kenya     0

Best of all, some of the Super Sixes games will (should) finally be televised on the ICC website! No details yet, but hopefully the ICC actually follow through.

 

[troll3y]

Courtesy of ICC's East Asia Pacific Twitter feed:

I reckon PNG are just two wins away from a berth at the 2015 Cricket World Cup. The second place will be a verrrrrrry tight finish -- so much so that I don't know who to back. Kenya have shown that they're indeed dangerous, Hong Kong and the UAE have been solid enough all tournament, and Namibia and Scotland have strong batting lineups. When push comes to shove, though, I can see Scotland getting the wins that they need to finish second (or even first, if they topple PNG).

I've also just read that the following matches will be streamed live on the ICC website:
Sun Jan 26: Hong Kong v Kenya @ Mainpower Oval, Rangiora,
Tue Jan 28: Papua New Guinea v Scotland @ Bert Sutcliffe Oval, Lincoln, and
Thu Jan 30: Hong Kong v Papua New Guinea @ Bert Sutcliffe Oval, Lincoln,

 

[ioppolo]

I dunno about the carry over points system, why not just start afresh in the super sixes?

 

[troll3y]

It seems strange at first, but when you think about it:

1) It takes into account a team's performance for the whole tournament, not just the Super Sixes.
2) It shortens the tournament by saving each team from having to re-play the other two teams from their original groups.
3) If all six teams were tabled on only the three games in the Super Sixes, they wouldn't be very well -- or very fairly -- distributed, seeing it only merits them on half of the Sixes. After three games per group in the Group Stage, second and third places in both groups had to be separated by Net Run Rate. Mathematically, the teams aren't very well spread for a fair ranking. With the points carried over, we're more likely to see two teams finish in a clear first and second (not having to be separated by NRR).