Afghanistan 186 for 6 beat Zimbabwe 127 by 59 runs
Afghanistan earned the right to a third appearance in the main draw of the World T20 with a comprehensive win over Full Members Zimbabwe in what was a knockout to advance to the next round. Mohammad Nabi's career-best 52 helped Afghanistan recover from a mid-innings wobble and build on a strong start to post a total Zimbabwe never looked capable of chasing.
After two scrappy wins in the qualifiers, Zimbabwe were given their biggest task when Afghanistan took on their bowling and then demanded a highest-ever successful chase from them. Although Zimbabwe's top order did not fold as dramatically as it had in previous appearances, they could not keep up with the required run rate, especially against an attack that strangled them with spin.
Afghanistan had set Zimbabwe a similar target in January in Sharjah. Then, Zimbabwe got close thanks to a fiesty fight from Malcolm Waller. This time, like the rest of his team-mates, he was troubled by turn and found it difficult to score freely.
On a slow and sticky surface, Afghanistan started off as aggressively as they have done all tournament as Mohammad Shahzad took on Tendai Chatara and Donald Tiripano. He swung hard no matter what the length or line and tripped himself up when he reverse-swept Sean Williams straight to point. By then, Afghanistan already had 49 runs, of which Shahzad had scored 40, in under five overs.
Zimbabwe conceded just 24 runs in the next five overs and could have had Mohammad Nabi stumped on 20 when he charged against Wellington Masakadza but the ball popped out of Richmond Mutumbami's gloves. They also thought they had Samiullah Shenwari caught at deep midwicket for 17 but Waller's low diving catch was referred to the third umpire who decided to rule Waller not out. The pair got some luck and rode it.
They put on 98 runs for the fifth wicket and 52 of those came after the 15th over, after which Nabi punished short balls from Masakadza and Shenwari pulled Tinashe Panyangara's figures out of shape. Zimbabwe were unable to stop the bleeding even when Shenwari holed out to deep midwicket and Nabi was run-out after reaching fifty, and conceded 28 runs in the last two overs.
Hamilton Masakadza and Vusi Sibanda approached their chase conservatively. The first boundary only came in the third over when Masakadza deposited a Dawlat Zadran ball over deep square leg but his aggression did not last long. He tried to do the same thing to Hamid Hassan but missed a full and straight delivery and was bowled.
Sibanda seemed ready to adopt the more responsible role he played in the first match against Hong Kong but Afghanistan had an ace up as their sleeve. As soon as the Powerplay ended, 17-year-old legspinner Rashid Khan was brought on. Sibanda swept and top-edged to give Hamid a simple catch. Mutumbami holed out, as he had done in every innings in the qualifiers so far, in the next over for 10. Williams and Waller were rebuilding slowly but with every delivery they did not score off, they were actually costing Zimbabwe. They limped to the halfway stage on 58 for 3.
Waller played down the wrong line to Shenwari and was bowled before Rashid had Williams stumped and Zimbabwe's fight was over. Shenwari, Rashid and Nabi continued to confound Zimbabwe's batsmen with spin, so much so that none of their batsmen managed to get past 17 runs, and the one who did - Panyangara - was just having some fun as the end loomed. Zimbabwe lost their last five wickets for 37 runs and were booted out of the tournament before it has even really started for the second time.
In 2014, too, Zimbabwe had failed to qualify and a successive failure will raise questions about the quality of their cricket. In the end, the team that is most likely to challenge the big boys, Afghanistan, have rightful reason to celebrate.
Hong Kong 127/7 (20/20 ov)
Scotland 78/2 (8/10 ov, target 76)
Scotland won by 8 wickets (with 12 balls remaining) (D/L method)
Scotland had gone 20 matches in ICC global events - since the 1999 World Cup - without a win. The losing streak hung like Coleridge's albatross around their necks. They were desperate to shake it off. In their 21st match, against Hong Kong on an unexpectedly rainy night in Nagpur, they finally did it and exited the World T20 with an eight-wicket win, which was set up by a sharp bowling performance.
The portents were clear right from the third ball of the match. Left-arm spinner Mark Watt gave generous flight as the ball gripped the cracked pitch and tested Jamie Atkinson with slow turn. Some balls turned like that, some skidded on, while others stopped on the batsmen. The trio of Watt, Con de Lange, and Matt Machan combined to send Hong Kong on a tail spin with figures of 12-0-66-4. Rain gave Hong Kong brief respite, and the contest was then reduced to a 10-over shootout, after which Scotland overhauled the revised target of 76 with ease.
George Munsey kick-started the chase with a flurry of fours. By the time he holed out, Scotland had knocked off more than one fourth of their target. And by the sixth over Scotland had dashed past 50, with several of their players lining up by the edge of the boundary to celebrate. The winning moment arrived, with 12 balls to spare, when Machan smote Nadeem Ahmed over midwicket for a six. Seconds later, he was embraced by veteran Kyle Coetzer while coach Grant Bradburn rushed towards captain Preston Mommsen and gave him an animated high-five.
The trend of spin doing the damage continued in Nagpur, after Hong Kong opted to bat, but the seamers did their bit as well, sucking pace off the ball and bowling cutters. Scotland, pretty and effective in pink, had lifted themselves in the field as well, diving and flinging themselves around, despite a couple of fumbles chances. Scotland's effort meant that Hong Kong were restrained to 127 for 7.
The 44-year old Ryan Campbell, potentially featuring in his last match at an ICC global event, was the first to go, for a duck, when he carved a catch to third man off Gavin Main. Babar Hayat began with a flourish, piercing the off-side ride with punchy drives off varying degrees, before nicking Main behind. However, umpire Ian Gould did not spot, handing the batsman a lifeline. Hayat, though, failed to cash in, undone by the slowness of the pitch, holing out to deep midwicket for 15. In the interim, Josh Davey fooled Atkinson with a cross-seamer and plucked a diving return catch.
Scotland followed Hayat's wicket with 25 boundary-less balls before Mark Chapman found his mojo with a swept six over deep square leg. The spinners then fed Chapman with leg-stump balls as he injected some impetus to a sagging innings. Anshuman Rath kept him good company before a missed swipe restricted the partnership to 49. Tanwir Afzal and Chapman, himself, soon followed as Hong Kong were weakened to 98 for 6.
Nizakat Khan, though, muscled back-to-back sixes, boosting Hong Kong to 127, the last over interrupted by a peculiar super-sopper delay to add to a rain delay. But there was no stopping Scotland as they savoured a long-awaited victory.
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