ICC World T20 Qualifier 2010

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Caesar

Caesar

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ICC World T20 Qualifier 2010

Well, the qualifying tournament for this years' edition of the World T20 kicks off today in the UAE. Scotland, USA, Afghanistan, Ireland, UAE, Kenya, Canada and the Netherlands are all fighting it out for the final two places in the West Indies later this year.

Two groups of four teams play a single round robin, with the top two from each advancing to the Super Fours. Another single round robin determines the two teams who advance to the final (and thus qualify for the main tournament).

17 matches, 5 days, and $250,000 for the two teams lucky enough to make it through - a significant prize for associate and affiliate nations.

Ireland are strong favourites to win it all, but the teams behind them are quite close. Scotland, the Netherlands and an Afghanistan team going from strength to strength will all fancy their chances.

My tip - Ireland to beat Afghanistan in the final. But in T20, who knows what the final result will be.

Tue Feb 9
1st Match, Group A - Scotland v United States of America
Sheikh Zayed Stadium, Abu Dhabi

2nd Match, Group A - Afghanistan v Ireland
Dubai International Cricket Stadium

3rd Match, Group B - United Arab Emirates v Kenya
Sheikh Zayed Stadium, Abu Dhabi

4th Match, Group B - Canada v Netherlands
Dubai International Cricket Stadium

Wed Feb 10
5th Match, Group B - Canada v Kenya
Dubai International Cricket Stadium

6th Match, Group A - Afghanistan v Scotland
Sheikh Zayed Stadium, Abu Dhabi

7th Match, Group B - United Arab Emirates v Netherlands
Dubai International Cricket Stadium

8th Match, Group A - Ireland v United States of America
Sheikh Zayed Stadium, Abu Dhabi

Thu Feb 11
9th Match, Group A - Afghanistan v United States of America
Dubai International Cricket Stadium

10th Match, Group B - United Arab Emirates v Canada
Sheikh Zayed Stadium, Abu Dhabi

11th Match, Group A - Ireland v Scotland
Dubai International Cricket Stadium

12th Match, Group B - Kenya v Netherlands
Sheikh Zayed Stadium, Abu Dhabi Sunny 13 - 26° C

Fri Feb 12
13th Match, Super Four - TBC v TBC (A1 v B2)
Dubai International Cricket Stadium Sunny 16 - 24° C

14th Match, Super Four - TBC v TBC (B1 v A2)
Dubai International Cricket Stadium Sunny 16 - 24° C

Sat Feb 13
15th Match, Super Four - TBC v TBC (B1 v A1)
Dubai International Cricket Stadium Sunny 17 - 25° C

16th Match, Super Four - TBC v TBC (B2 v A2)
Dubai International Cricket Stadium

17th Match, Final - TBC v TBC
Dubai International Cricket Stadium
 
Re: ICC World T20 Qualifier 2010

Tough one to call. Ireland look vulnerable at times but so do Kenya. Afghans and the Dutch for outside bets.
 
Re: ICC World T20 Qualifier 2010

Shocks all round with Ireland (not such a shock maybe) and Kenya losing. Makes it very interesting.
 
Re: ICC World T20 Qualifier 2010

Very interesting day yesterday:

Netherlands d. Canada
UAE d. Kenya
Afghanistan d. Ireland
USA d. Scotland

The Group A winner will likely be decided today, together with the first team to be eliminated from Group B.
 
Re: ICC World T20 Qualifier 2010

Scotland are already in the mire against Afghanistan, 8-2 off 4. Their batting has looked very weak.
 
Re: ICC World T20 Qualifier 2010

Bit of a shocker at the moment. UAE are through at the expense of either Kenya or the Dutch - who would have predicted that?
 
Re: ICC World T20 Qualifier 2010

Would have to say that Scotland are out. They need to win big against Ireland and hope that the USA lose to Afghanistan. I can see one out of the two happening and it won't be Scotland winning! Their batting looks very fragile, even in the warm up games they were struggling to post 120.

Second group is similar, UAE are through - my money is on the Netherlands to go through. Kenya seem a bit lethargic at the moment, the openers have been firing of late but after that it's a similar story to Scotland.

Code: 
[B]Group A[/B]
Teams 	Mat 	Won 	Lost 	Tied 	N/R 	Pts 	Net RR 	
Afghan	2 	2 	0 	0 	0 	4 	+0.675 		
Ire 	2 	1 	1 	0 	0 	2 	+1.625 	
USA 	2 	1 	1 	0 	0 	2 	-1.795 	
Scot  	2 	0 	2 	0 	0 	0 	-0.509 	

[B]Group B[/B]
Teams 	Mat 	Won 	Lost 	Tied 	N/R 	Pts 	Net RR 	
UAE 	2 	2 	0 	0 	0 	4 	+0.725 	
Kenya 	2 	1 	1 	0 	0 	2 	+0.779 	
Nether 	2 	1 	1 	0 	0 	2 	-0.068 		
Canada 	2 	0 	2 	0 	0 	0 	-1.441
 
Re: ICC World T20 Qualifier 2010

Very surprising really. Afghanistan and the UAE are basically through, I don't think anyone would have predicted that.

Scotland have looked awful for the entire tournament and the higher ranked associates, Ireland, Kenya and the Netherlands have looked patchy in parts.

Great tournament so far.
 
Re: ICC World T20 Qualifier 2010

Great to see Afghanistan up there. Would love to see them for the first time on the 'proper' international stage.
 
Re: ICC World T20 Qualifier 2010

Down to the nitty gritty of the super fours (why they have to have this, search me). I'm going to stick my neck out and tip Ireland and Afghanistan to make it through to the final.

UAE have done very well to get this far but I feel Ireland will beat them, likewise Afghanistan. Netherlands could be an outside bet but they have (arguably) the tougher challenge.

Code: 
Super Four
Teams 	Mat 	Won 	Lost 	Tied 	N/R 	Pts 	Net RR 
UAE	1 	1 	0 	0 	0 	2 	+0.720 	
Afgn 	1 	1 	0 	0 	0 	2 	+0.650 	
Ire	1 	0 	1 	0 	0 	0 	-0.650 	
Net 	1 	0 	1 	0 	0 	0 	-0.720
 
Re: ICC World T20 Qualifier 2010

All to play for. Ireland beat the UAE, putting them top and in the driving seat. Netherlands proved too strong for Afghanistan, meaning all teams are on one win going into the final round.

Code: 
Super Four
Teams 	Mat 	Won 	Lost 	Tied 	N/R 	Pts 	Net RR 	
Irel 	2 	1 	1 	0 	0 	2 	+0.225 		
Afg	2 	1 	1 	0 	0 	2 	+0.031 		
Net	2 	1 	1 	0 	0 	2 	0.000 	
UAE	2 	1 	1 	0 	0 	2 	-0.226

Although the actual final is being played later, it's fair to say that the actual finals are the last groups games as it is really winner takes all.

I think Afghanistan will beat the UAE. The other game is a lot closer and could go either way. Ireland for me, just, as they have hit some kind of form.
 
Re: ICC World T20 Qualifier 2010

Ireland and Afghanistan through to the full tournament. Afghanistan emerged as overall winners as they easily beat Ireland in the final. Massive boost to the team - how will they go against the big boys?
 
Re: ICC World T20 Qualifier 2010

Afghanistan are starting to look a very good team in the short time they have been around, especially with their country being so affected by war it is a massive achievement to get this far. My prediction is by the end of the next decade this team will be equal to Zimbabwe or maybe Bangaldesh in ODIs - they have the talent and a commited goverment to aid the team as well.
 
Re: ICC World T20 Qualifier 2010

Afghanistan have a few issues to overcome before they can even begin to think about long term success. Firstly, the country is a mess, without even considering the ongoing war. Until that finishes and stability has been established no team will go there to play. This means that the Afghans become a travelling team which does have some knock on effects - for example, the team is highly celebrated at the moment but will this continue to be the case if the public can not watch them in the flesh?

A further problem is what happens when the current crop of cricketers retire? If the stories are true then they bonded in refugee camps (which is also where they learned the game). This has led them to play as a team, almost as if they are brothers. It is a pretty unique situation and accounts for some of their success. Simply put they would die for each other (ok, maybe a bit OTT but you know what I'm trying to say).

They have a togetherness which means they are more than the sum of their parts. They are the Wimbledon (this will make sense to soccer fans) of world cricket. What happens when other players come in? Will they still have that attitude or will they fall apart?

Finally, you have to consider how much development they are able to do in terms of youth. As I said above the country is a mess and infrastructure is minimal at best. They do have youth teams but I think it's far to say that what they can do is limited. Also, with the team getting (potentially) limted exposure in the country (see above) will they continue to attract youths to the game?

I'm not pouring cold water on the team, indeed, I love a good underdog story. I do believe that they could well be the next team to make the step up (the potential is there) but there are a lot of factors in the way before that can even be considered.
 
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