The Associates thread

[The Speaker]

Despite the best efforts of the Dutch, Nepal managed to win by two wickets with three balls left. No real standout performance with the bat - top was Bhandari with 35 from 30 - but the Dutch total was very gettable. Rippon, Bukhari and Malik took two each. Nepal will want to improve their batting from here on in though, looked very shaky in both games.

Kenya never really looked like chasing down Canada, despite a 95 run partnership for the third wicket. Obuya (78) and Karim (50) were the base for the chase, Desai took 4/45 and Dhindsa 3/28. Good comeback from Canada, while Kenya are now the only team without a win so far. Things not looking good for them.

Another strong effort from Uganda's bowlers, but Namibia was always just a step ahead, and won by four wickets. Erasmus was their best with his 62, while Sorel Burger hit a calm 37*. Ssenyondo the pick of the bowlers with 2/30 from 10. Namibia now head the table, and Uganda are clearly going to rely on their bowling to get them through the tournament.

 

[The Speaker]

Ireland have won the tri-series after the last game was washed out.

Scotland finish on the bottom, but are also the only team with a positive NRR.

 

[ioppolo]

Canada 8/86 off 44 overs vs Nepal.

 

[The Speaker]

Guess which of the following teams is on top of the table...

Canada never really got going after electing to bat against Nepal. From 5/22 they recovered to be all out for 114, Dhindsa the high scorer with 25*. KC Karan was the destroyer with 5/22 from ten, and the other bowlers were equally economical, especially Paras Khadka's 1/17 from his ten.

Namibia were in charge from the get go with their innings, being sent in by the Netherlands. Baard and Snyman opened with an 83 run partnership, Baard and Snyman took it to 1/175, and by the time Erasmus departed for 92 they were 5/272. The Dutch contained them well enough in the last ten, but the damage had already been done and they ended with 9/314. Malik and Bukhari were the Netherlands' best with 3/49 and 3/50.

Uganda again failed to make the most of a decent opening partnership, being bowled out for 129 after being asked to bat by Kenya. Kyobe was their highest scorer, but his run out by Nehemiah Odhiambo on 24 turned the game well and truly in Kenya's favour. Shem Ngoche bowled excellent for his 4/17, and Nelson Odhiambo was again in the wickets with 2/28.

 

[The Speaker]

Today's matches should've been, theoretically, closely fought contests between the most evenly matched teams.

Not one match was even remotely close.

After an early scare - 2/0 after eight balls - Nepal cruised home to victory by seven wickets, led by captain Khadka, on whom their batting so heavily rests. He scored 77 of their 115 runs, a welcome return after poor results so far. Malla scored the rest of the runs with his 32*. Dhindsa was the only wicket taker for Canada with 2/29.

The Netherlands' innings was a shambles once the second wicket fell. Rippon was again the high scorer with 26, only one other player passed 20 (Myburgh). Klazinga the best of the bowlers with 3/24, accounting for the three most important batsmen (Cooper, Barresi, Borren). Burger, Williams and B Scholtz all took two wickets.

Kenya notched their first win of the tournament with a fairly smooth five wicket win over Uganda. Their top four all got starts, although none got further than Obanda's 32. Uganda took some quick wickets late, but their bowlers simply didn't have enough to defend. Nsubuga and Ochan both took two wickets.

As I thought might happen, it looks like the Netherlands and Nepal will be fighting it out for the second spot. Namibia would have to completely collapse to not be promoted from here. Their match against Nepal will be vital for the promotion hopes of the four teams on one win. Nepal could've had their promotion almost sewn up as well had they not blown their first match against Uganda, who are well on track to be relegated. The big problem for today's losers is NRR. The Dutch have gone from +0.6 to -0.8. Canada's is virtually -1. To be promoted, the teams need to do the following:

Namibia: Just needs a win from their last two matches. A stumble against Nepal is possible, but it's hard to see them losing to Canada. Even then, their NRR is so good that they would need to be thrashed in both games. At this point it seems safe to say they are through to division one.

Nepal: Needs at least one win, and to not be thrashed if they lose one match. They are only one match ahead of the others, but their NRR is also quite good. Very much outsiders against Namibia, but Kenya look quite beatable. The big worry is the batting. Today was the first match their batting didn't look inept, and it was solely due to Paras Khadka doing well. May rue the loss to Uganda in the end.

Kenya: Have gone from last to third on account of their relatively good NRR. The problem is that their remaining matches are against two teams that are probably better than them - Nepal and the Netherlands - particularly with the ball. Apart from Nelson Odhimabo, there really aren't any match winners, and they will need match winners, especially match winning batsmen, as their opponents both have somewhat fragile line-ups. Need to win both matches to be promoted, as do the next three teams.

Uganda: Did well to win against Nepal, but that may be their only win for the tournament. Their bowling line-up, especially their spinners, have kept them in each match as much as possible, but their batting is quite ordinary. It's hard to see them hitting a winning score against both Canada and the Netherlands, but if they win one match they could well avoid relegation from division two for the first time.

Netherlands: Their batting looked vulnerable at the start of the tourament, and vulnerable it has proven to be. Running into some real difficulties by playing six bowlers - Rippon is good enough with the bat to be at seven, and Bukhari at eight, but there's four more bowlers to fit into three positions. You can understand why they want to keep Malik and Seelaar in (experienced players) and also Kingma and van Meekeren (the future of Dutch cricket, homegrown talent) but something needs to give. Seelaar is probably the least effective so far, but that leaves them with only one spinner. The good news for the Oranje is that their remaining matches are against Kenya and Uganda, who are among the weaker sides playing, but they will need some big wins to get their NRR back up near the top two.

Canada: This may be curtains for Canada in division two. Their NRR is seriously poor, and a match against Namibia won't help. Their bowling has been capable without being spectacular, and their only win came on account of a good batting performance. They'll need to have their batsmen show up again against Uganda to avoid relegation, and even then it may not be enough.

Pre-tournament I thought it would be Namibia and one of Nederland and Nepal going up, and that's how it looks right now.

 

[Bingle_21]

Nepal really seems to love cricket

Was there in November for a hike. A lot of kids playing in the streets and parks. Also spending 3 days in bed with a stomach bug there was at a minimum 5 channels showing cricket (live/highlights/replays?documentrys). That to me says there is an appetite for it and that perhaps their pathways/programs may not have been there in the past but hopefully going forward they may develop more.

 

[The Speaker]

Namibia have malfunctioned against Nepal. Nepal elected to bowl first, and have once again done well, at one point leaving the hosts 4/35. The middle order recovered with starts throughout, but no-one scored higher than 28 (van Schoor). KC Karan was again the highest wicket taker with 3/12. Khadka deserves a mention for another miserly performance, 0/19 off ten.

Good performances from the top order have helped Kenya to 9/212 against the Netherlands. The Dutch elected to bowl, and after a wicket in the second over it was tough going for the bowlers against Karim (43) and Narendra Patel (48). A good partnership between Rakep Patel and Nehemiah Odhiambo was the only other one of note. Malik finished off the innings with 3/27, van Meekeren, van Schleven and Rippon with two wickets each.

Uganda had their first poor bowling performance of the tournament, as Canada looked to get off the bottom of the table, ending of 6/293. Nitish Kumar provided the first century of the tournament after a string of 90s, and Hansra hit two sixes off the last over to get to 63*. Nsubuga was the most economical performer with 1/34 off nine.

A Nepal win would be massive. Let's see what their batsmen can do...

 

[t_94]

From what I can gather, Nepal as a country is absolutely fanatical about cricket. Like to see them do well

 

[The Speaker]

Nepal are nothing if not predictable. They have now bowled first all four times, got their opponents out for under 200, and then crept towards their target. Khadka was, again, the difference between a win and a loss, this time making 64, while Malla made a typically solid 31. Nepal managed to lose 4/13 at the end of the innings, but had bowled Namibia out for a small enough total that it mostly didn't matter. Snyman was the best bowler with 3/23.

The Netherlands made their chase look easy thanks to a 91 from Myburgh opening the batting. The desperately needed to improve their NRR, and his innings from just 64 balls did that. Cameos also from Cooper (34) and Borren (28*) in a five wicket win. James Ngoche undoubtedly the only bowler of note with 4/52 from his ten.

Unsurprisingly, Uganda were not up to chasing down nearly 300 to win, despite a strong 70 by Selowa. Only two other players made it past 20 as they stuttered their way to 182. Dutta and Pervez picked up four each, and lifted Canada to third.

With one round left the divisions are looking fairly set. Namibia and Nepal have three wins and strong NRR, Canada and the Netherlands have two wins and average NRR, Kenya and Uganda have one win and poor NRR. The Dutch will probably fancy themselves a slightly better chance than Canada of making it through, as they face Uganda, who are set to be relegated back to div three again. But they need a massive win, and hope that one of Nepal and Namibia loses big. If Kenya can run through Nepal this may be possible, but it's hard to see Canada beating the hosts.

 

[The Speaker]

Added a list of websites relating to Associate cricket to the OP. Relatively slim pickings, I'm afraid.

 

[mikey127]

Netherlands cleaned up Uganda for 79 and got the target of just 7 4 overs

 

[TubbsFarquhar]

Nepal made 194 against Kenya with Malla making 91 being the standout run scorer. Namibia chasing 225 with Wijeratne scoring 52 for the Canucks. Excellent thread btw, I've always had some interest following the associate and affiliate nations. The game seems to making particularly great ground in Nepal, Afghanistan and PNG and, hopefully, can continue to expand.

 

[TubbsFarquhar]

Some good memories regarding asoociates.


The man, the myth, the legend, Dwayne Leverock bowling at the 2007 WC. Who can forget 'that catch'?

 

[The Speaker]

What a day.

Yesterday it all looked sorted. But then...

Uganda threw the big spanner in the works by completely giving up and getting rolled for 80. Masaba was the high scorer with 17. Malik took a List A record 5/7, Bukhari and Kingama took two each. The Dutch set about chasing like men possessed,, getting it in the 8th over, Borren the high scorer with 29 from 16.

So after giving themselves the best chance of promotion, they needed one of Namibia and Nepal to lose. Namibia set about rectifying their mistake yesterday, bowling Canada out for 224 and chasing it down in 40 overs. Kumar (43), Wijeratne (52) and Dhindsa (43*) did well with the bat, while Williams took 6/30. Namibia lost only two wickets in the chase, thanks to a big opening partnership from Baard (79) and Snyman (83).

So then it was up to Nepal (trying to promote) and Kenya (trying to get out of being demoted). Nepal again demonstrated their frailty with the bat, with Mr Reliable Malla the only scorer of note with 91*. Oteino was the best bowler with 3/47. Nepal's bowling struggled, trying to defend a total for the first time in the tournament. Obanda (45), Karim (75*) and Patel (56) did their best to get to the total in time, getting there in 35 overs...and it was enough to get past Canada.

So, in the end the teams promoting are Namibia and the Netherlands. Nepal will be massively disappointed, but there's no denying their batting is dubious. Kenya will be breathing a sigh of relief. Uganda will be returning to div three again, not exactly unfamiliar territory. And the slide of Canada continues, going from ODI status to division three within a year.

Tomorrow the play-offs will be on, mostly for pride.

EDIT: Got Kenya and Canada mixed up.

 

[The_Reaper]

bit concerning for zimbabwe how well Canada did against their A team

 

[The Speaker]

bit concerning for zimbabwe how well Canada did against their A team

Especially as, after today's results, Canada has offically finished last.

Canada played against Uganda in the fifth place play-off. They won the toss and elected to bat, and once again Uganda's bowling was something to be reckoned with. Sebanja and Ssenyondo took three wickets each as Canada spluttered to 140. The batting side had only two partnerships of note, for the fourth and ninth wickets, and Hamza Tariq was the top scorer with 32. Uganda then put on their best batting performance of the tournament, chasing down the target with eight wickets left thanks to a big partnership from Ndhlovu (40*) and Selowa (48*).

Nepal won the toss and chose to field (again) in their third place play-off against Kenya. It was a fairly even batting performance all around, as Nepal repeated yesterday's not-so-great bowling to allow Kenya to 208. Kenya have clearly figured out how to bat against Nepal where the other teams have not, with Nelson Odhiambo the high scorer (48) along with a good showing from Narendra Patel (44). Sompal Kami was the best of the bowlers with 3/41. The chase was led by Bhandari, who top scored with his first 50 of the tournament in making 73, and, shock horror, Gyanendra Malla (48). But after being 3/142, Nepal collapsed fifteen shy of the total, Otieno taking four wickets and Oluoch three to complete an amazing turnaround for Kenya.

And completing the lower-beats-higher trifecta were the Netherlands, who also had an eight wicket win, this time over hosts Namibia. The Dutch won the toss and elected to bowl, and Namibia got off to a decent start. But that's about all their batsmen got, as all but Williams (54) got out after making a good start. Rippon took a deserved 5/32, and Malik chipped in with three wickets, as Namibia were restricted to 212. The Dutch then set about having a great batting performance, with Ahmed the lowest scorer on 41. Myburgh, Cooper and Borren all completed half centuries as the took the Netherlands to first place.

 

[mikey127]

So after this what teams are in what divisions?

 

[TubbsFarquhar]

So after this what teams are in what divisions?

Netherlands and Namibia qualify for the World Cricket League championship against Ireland, Scotland, PNG, Afghanistan, the UAE and Hong Kong. Kenya and Nepal remain in division 2 while Canada and Uganda are relegated to division 3 to play in 2017.

 

[ioppolo]

For anyone who cares, the ACC T20 cup is on, a tournament featuring Malaysia, Maldvies, Kuwait, Singapore, Saudi Arabia & Oman.

 

[The Speaker]

Final Results

Netherlands and Namibia are promoted to the WCL Championship, and will also take part in the Intercontinental Cup, joining the six ODI Associates.

Kenya and Nepal remain in division two, and are not scheduled to play until the next World Cup qualifiers.

Uganda and Canada are demoted to division three, joining Malaysia, Singapore and the two teams that are promoted from division four next year.

The next WCL tournament will be division six, held later this year. The Championship and Intercontinental Cup will be held over the next three years.

My Team of the Tournament

SJ Baard (Namibia) - 249 runs @ 41.50
G Snyman (Namibia) - 206 runs @ 34.33, 9 wickets @ 23.22
MG Erasmus (Namibia) - 241 runs @ 48.20
IA Karim+ (Kenya) - 205 runs @ 41.00, 14 catches
G Malla (Nepal) - 236 runs @ 59.00
P Khadka* (Nepal) - 185 runs @ 30.83, 6 wickets @ 22.83
MJG Rippon (Netherlands) - 113 runs @ 28.25, 14 wickets @ 15.57
NM Odhiambo (Kenya) - 123 runs @ 24.60, 11 wickets @ 17.00
Ahsan Malik (Netherlands) - 17 wickets @ 10.17
Sompal Kami (Nepal) - 11 wickets @ 19.18
H Ssenyondo (Uganda) - 9 wickets @ 16.11

 

[The Speaker]

For anyone who cares, the ACC T20 cup is on, a tournament featuring Malaysia, Maldvies, Kuwait, Singapore, Saudi Arabia & Oman.

Going to be interesting to see who performs now that Afghanistan and Nepal aren't part of it.

 

[Marklar_33]

Great thread, here to subscribe

Had a strange idea of how to keep associate players from bailing on their home countries. Form an Associates XI to play Tests, players can be picked on their Intercontinental Cup form. Once a nations players start to dominate this team, makes a good argument for them to be promoted to full membership

Crazy idea, which is all it will ever be!

 

[mikey127]

Great thread, here to subscribe

Had a strange idea of how to keep associate players from bailing on their home countries. Form an Associates XI to play Tests, players can be picked on their Intercontinental Cup form. Once a nations players start to dominate this team, makes a good argument for them to be promoted to full membership

Crazy idea, which is all it will ever be!

Love your idea but sadly can't see it happening.

 

[Marklar_33]

Love your idea but sadly can't see it happening.

Yep, unless I get on the ICC board...also unlikely!

 

[The_Reaper]

Going to be interesting to see who performs now that Afghanistan and Nepal aren't part of it.

Malaysia and Singapore really should be the top two