The ICC World T20 Qualifier kicks off today in UAE. The top 2 teams from the 8 team tournament advance to the ICC World T20 in the West Indies in April
GROUP A: Ireland,Scotland,Afghanistan,USA
GROUP B: Netherlands,Kenya,Canada,UAE
FIXTURE
TUESDAY(Today)
Scotland vs USA at Abu Dhabi 10am local (5pm AEDT)
Afghanistan vs Ireland at Dubai 12pm local (7pm AEDT)
UAE vs Kenya at Abu Dhabi 2pm local (9pm AEDT)
Canada vs Netherlands at Dubai 4pm local (11pm AEDT)
WEDNESDAY
Afghanistan vs Scotland at Abu Dhabi 10am local (5pm AEDT)
Canada vs Kenya at Dubai 12pm local (7pm AEDT)
Ireland vs USA at Abu Dhabi 2pm local (9pm AEDT)
UAE vs Netherlands at Dubai 4pm local (11pm AEDT)
THURSDAY
UAE vs Canada at Abu Dhabi 10am local (5pm AEDT)
Afghanistan vs USA at Dubai 12pm local (7pm AEDT)
Kenya vs Netherlands at Abu Dhabi 2pm local (9pm AEDT)
Ireland vs Scotland at Dubai 4pm local (11pm AEDT)
FRIDAY
Super 4 games
A1 vs B2 at Dubai at 12pm local (7pm AEDT)
B1 vs A2 at Dubai at 4pm local (11pm AEDT)
SATURDAY
Super 4 games
B1 vs A2 at Dubai at 12pm local (7pm AEDT)
B2 vs A2 at Dubai at 4pm local (11pm AEDT)
FINAL at Dubai 8pm local (3am(Sun) AEDT)
Since I've already written it
http://img402.imageshack.us/img402/5411/t20quae.png
Sheikh Zayed Stadium, Abu Dhabi
Dubai International Cricket Stadium
Tuesday February 9-Saturday February 13
Just a couple of months away from the third World Twenty20, and it's less than 29 months since the first one. This tournament was rescheduled from last year because the grounds were unavailable, and since admission is free for this tournament they're not making much out of it. The 6 ODI associates get automatic entry, plus host nation UAE (who are also 7th in the associate rankings) and the USA who get in because the ICC want money from the US market - Namibia miss out. 2 more teams than last time and 1 less spot available as the Zimbabweans are allowed into the Caribbean nations. The winner of the final gets the South Africa/India group, the loser plays England and the hosts (which may be the better draw). Somehow the ICC have managed to do what they can't do with anything at the top level - keep a tournament short. 5 days, 3-6 games each and they all go home. With no prize for 3rd they're not bothering with the playoffs for 3rd, 5th and 7th this time.
Group A:
http://img190.imageshack.us/img190/8137/ire.png
Warmed up with a trip to Sri Lanka where they comfortably beat Afghanistan, fell just short against Canada and then were pretty convincingly beaten by the Sri Lanka A side. They met Canada again in Sharjah in the 'official' warmup game, bowling them out with an over remaining and 11 runs still needed.
Kyle McCallan and Jeremy Bray have called it quits and they've lost Eoin Morgan to the Poms. Boyd Rankin's injured but most of the names are familiar. The new names are George Dockrell, a 17-year-old left arm spinner, Gary Kidd - a 24-year-old left arm spinner, and Nigel Jones, a Kiwi import who bowls medium pace and bats a bit.
Squad: Paul Stirling, *William Porterfield, +Niall O'Brien, Kevin O'Brien, Andre Botha, Alex Cusack, Gary Wilson, John Mooney, Nigel Jones, Andrew White, Trent Johnston, Peter Connell, Gary Kidd, George Dockrell
http://img46.imageshack.us/img46/4402/sco.png
Gavin Hamilton is their latest captain after Ryan Watson lost it after they failed to make the World Cup of the 50 over format. Problem child John Blain is gone, former captain Craig Wright's retired and Colin Smith's retired with a bit of a shove.
They warmed up in Kenya and couldn't take a wicket in two games against the locals, while they beat Uganda convincingly in game 2 after sneaking home in an eliminator the first time they met. In the UAE it was a different story, taking 9 wickets against the Kenyans to win by 16 runs.
Squad: Kyle Coetzer, Navdeep Poonia, *Gavin Hamilton, Fraser Watts, Ryan Watson, Neil McCallum, Richie Berrington, Jan Stander, Gordon Drummond, +Simon Smith, Ross Lyons, Majid Haq, Gordon Goudie, Dewald Nel
http://img38.imageshack.us/img38/2082/afg.png
The rising stars of associate cricket will like their chances of beating the Scots with nobody older than 25 (apparently, but we all know about the reliability of ages in that part of the world). They were also thumped by Sri Lanka A but did manage a victory against Canada in their adopted home of Sri Lanka. Only got to play a Sharjah side in the official warmup, but managed 190 and a 39 run victory, without strike bowler Hamid Hassan.
Squad: *Nowroz Mangal, Asghar Stanikzai, Karim Sadiq, Noor Ali, +Mohammad Shahzad, Raees Ahmadzai, Shafiqullah, Mohammad Nabi, Samiullah Shenwari, Mirwais Ashraf, Hamid Hassan, Shapoor Zadran, Dawlat Ahmadzai, Aftab Alam
http://img341.imageshack.us/img341/9113/usap.png
They haven't played at this level for a long time - since the 2004 Champions Trophy, but that doesn't mean it's a team of youngsters. Captain Steve Massiah is 30, but only 5 of his 14 man squad are younger than him, with Sudesh Dhaniram 43 years old.
Warmups for them were just a couple of games against the UAE, losing the first game in Sharjah with 11 balls to go before hitting back to beat them in Abu Dhabi with 4 balls and 1 wicket to spare - the youngest member of the squad, Jamaican-born Timroy Allen, was the pick of the bowlers in the first game and got them home with the bat in the second, whacking 57 off just 26 balls.
Squad: Sushil Nadkarni, +Carl Wright, Lennox Cush, *Steve Massiah, Sudesh Dhaniram, Rashard Marshall, Aditya Thyagarajan, Orlando Baker, Glen Hall, Timroy Allen, Usman Shuja, Saurabh Verma, Imran Awan, Kevin Darlington
Tuesday
Scotland v USA (Abu Dhabi 10am/5pm AEDT)
Afghanistan v Ireland (Dubai 12pm/7pm AEDT)
Wednesday
Afghanistan v Scotland (Abu Dhabi 10am/5pm AEDT)
Ireland v USA (Abu Dhabi 2pm/9pm AEDT)
Thursday
Afghanistan v USA (Dubai 12pm/7pm AEDT)
Ireland v Scotland (Dubai 4pm/11pm AEDT)
Group B:
http://img199.imageshack.us/img199/2518/ned.png
The orange men took a different approach to the rest - preparing against club sides in India instead of playing in the other associate tournaments or the official warm up games. The first match against Poona ended in a tie before Bas Zuiderant added to his unbeaten 78 scoring all 12 required with a ball of the super over to spare, then they couldn't defend 187 against them a few days later, losing with an over to spare. They then thumped Maharashtra before collapsing the next day and getting thumped by a Mumbai club side. Finished with another game against Poona where Bukhari hit 114 off 38 and retired, they knocked them over well short then got out of India to arrive in the UAE the day before the tournament.
Keeper and skipper Jeroen Smits retired a couple of weeks ago and opener Darron Reekers called it quits after last year's tournament, but other than that most of the names are familiar. They've lost Dirk Nannes from the team that beat England last year because he's now an Australian international.
Squad: Mudassar Bukhari, Alexei Kervezee, Bas Zuiderent, Ryan ten Doeschate, Eric Szwarczynski, Tim Gruijters, Tom de Grooth, *Peter Borren, Daan van Bunge, +Atse Buurman, Edgar Schiferli, Mark Jonkman, Mohammad Kashif, Pieter Seelar
http://img205.imageshack.us/img205/6751/kenp.png
Made the playoff for third in Ireland last time but they were very lucky Canada and Bermuda were awful, and got thumped in that playoff by the Scots. Undefeated against the Scots and Ugandans in the warmup tournament they hosted, losing just 5 wickets in 4 games while taking 37, but they lost 9 after taking only 6 against the Scots once in Abu Dhabi. A lot of familiar names here too, including Steve Tikolo.
Squad: David Obuya, Steve Tikolo, Alex Obanda, *+Maurice Ouma, Rakep Patel, Collins Obuya, Jimmy Kamande, Tony Suji, Nehemiah Odhiambo, Lameck Onyango, Shem Obado, Nelson Odhiambo, Elijah Otieno, Hiren Varaiya
http://img12.imageshack.us/img12/5536/canct.png
He's a coach at the Australian Academy but he's still a player for Canada, and 39-year-old John Davison has a couple of other old farts for company - Sunil Dhaniram at 41 and Ian Bilcliff at 37. Ashish Bagai is back after quitting his banking job in Europe to play more cricket, but Rizwan Cheema is now the captain.
They hung on against Ireland, snuck home against Afghanistan and, like everybody else, got thumped by Sri Lanka A in the warmup tournament, before a narrow loss in the UAE warmup against the leprechauns.
Squad: John Davison, *Rizwan Cheema, Abdool Samad, Geoff Barnett, Ian Bilcliff, Ashish Bagai, Sunil Dhaniram, Hiral Patel, Saad Bin Zafar, Shaheed Keshvani, Usman Limbada, Umar Bhatti, Khurram Chohan, Harvir Baidwan, Henry Osinde
http://img525.imageshack.us/img525/3291/uael.png
They play a few serious games in the UAE but it's been a while since the local side played in a serious competition. Captain's 38 and there's a few in their late 20s and 30s, but they've good a good mix with 5 of their 13 aged between 21 and 23.
Played a couple of games against the USA in the official warmups (see the USA section above) and played a couple of games against Uganda in Dubai a couple of weeks back, winning both in low scorers - bowling seems to be their strength.
Squad: Mohammad Iqbal, Arfan Haider, Qadar Nawaz, Saqib Ali, *Khurram Khan, Naeemuddin Aslam, Fayyaz Ahmed, +Abdul Rehman, Shadeep Silva, Ahmed Raza, Shoaib Sarwar, Qasim Zubair, Moiz Shahid
Tuesday
UAE v Kenya (Abu Dhabi 2pm/9pm AEDT)
Canada v Netherlands (Dubai 4pm/11pm AEDT)
Wednesday
Canada v Kenya (Dubai 12pm/7pm AEDT)
UAE v Netherlands (Dubai 4pm/11pm AEDT)
Thursday
UAE v Canada (Abu Dhabi 10am/5pm AEDT)
Kenya v Netherlands (Abu Dhabi 2pm/9pm AEDT)
Super Fours:
Top two from each group advance to this stage, carrying over the points from the games between the two in each group. With no chance of rain, net run rate is the tiebreaker. Top two play in the final straight after the two games on Saturday
Friday
A1 v B2 (Dubai 12pm/7pm AEDT)
B1 v A2 (Dubai 4pm/11pm AEDT)
Saturday
A1 v B1 (Dubai 12pm/7pm AEDT)
A2 v B2 (Dubai 4pm/11pm AEDT)
Final (Dubai 8pm/3am AEDT)
Umpires:
Aleem Dar (Pakistan)
Sarika Prasad (Singapore)
Buddhi Pradhan (Nepal)
Jeff Luck (Namibia)
Paul Baldwin (Germany/England)
Subhash Modi (Kenya)
Weather:
Sunny, 30 degrees. If it wasn't they'd build something so it was.
my money is on the irish and the afghans (very big cricket in the south of the country)I can't see Holland missing the final, could see the Afghans beating the Irish (just starting now) to get the other spot. Canada and Kenya don't produce regularly enough to be a serious threat. Scotland, USA and UAE are just no good.
USA have restricted Scotland to 120 in game 1 and made a solid start to their chase - 1/33 after 33 balls
Results from Day 2 played overnight
Afghanistan 7/131(20)(Noor Ali 42,Coetzer 3/25) def Scotland 9/117(20)(McCallum 38,Hamid Hassan 3/32)
Canada 9/138(20)(Bagai 36,Odhiambo 3/16) lost to Kenya 1/141(14.5)(Obanda 79,Tikolo 50)
Ireland 4/202(20)(O'Brien 84,Cusack 46,Porterfield 45) def USA 6/124(20)(Thyagarajan 72*,Connell 4/14)
Netherlands 8/164(20)(Van Bunge 76,Qasim Zubar 5/24) lost to UAE 4/168(18.5)(Naeemuddin Alam 60*,Khurram Khan 52*)
LADDERS AFTER ROUND 2
GROUP A
Afghanistan 2-0 NRR +0.675
Ireland 1-1 +1.625
----------------------------
USA 1-1 -1.795
Scotland 0-2 -0.509
GROUP B
UAE 2-0 NRR +0.725
Kenya 1-1 +0.779
----------------------------
Netherlands 1-1 -0.068
Canada 0-2 -1.441
Final Round of Matches later today
UAE vs Canada at Abu Dhabi at 10am local (5pm AEDT)
Afghanistan vs USA at Dubai at 12pm local (7pm AEDT)
Kenya vs Netherlands at Abu Dhabi at 2pm local (9pm AEDT)
Ireland vs Scotland at Dubai at 4pm local (11pm AEDT)