Report

Namibia sneak home off last ball

A round-up of all the games played in Group A of the World Twenty20 Qualifiers on November 19, 2013

Namibia 122 for 7 (Williams 57, van der Westhuizen 41) beat Italy 121 for 6 (Raso 35, Smit 2-23) by three wickets
Scorecard
Namibia lost two wickets off the second and third balls of the last over, but the two new batsmen managed to score the four runs needed in a last-ball win against Italy in Abu Dhabi. One of those two wickets was Craig Williams' - who had scored 57 off 51 deliveries, the only half-century in the match - which brought Italy right back into the game. Off the next delivery, Nicolaas Scholtz attempted a second run, but was run-out. JJ Smit and Jaen Kotze then held their nerves and tipped Namibia over the line. Chasing 122, Namibia's innings was held together by Williams and Louis van der Westhuizen, the two adding 66 for the third wicket. None of the other batsmen got into double figures.
Italy chose to bat and recovered from a horror start during which they lost their first four wickets for 27 within six overs. Carl Sandri and Joy Perera staged a fightback, but both were dismissed off consecutive deliveries. No 7 Michael Raso then lifted Italy with a 27-ball 35 and added 55 for the seventh wicket along with Alessandro Bonora.
Canada 137 for 7 (Hansra 58*, Arinaitwe 2-25) beat Uganda 93 (Gordon 2-9, Dean 2-16) by 44 runs
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
Canada registered their first points in the ICC World Twenty20 Qualifiers after a comfortable win against Uganda in a Group A tie in Abu Dhabi. Opting to bat, Canada lost their openers by the fifth over, but captain Ashish Bagai and Jimmy Hansra scripted a 49-run stand for the third wicket to consolidate their position. After Bagai's dismissal, Hansra couldn't get much support from the following batsmen, but he single-handedly pushed the score to a competitive 137 and stayed unbeaten on 58.
Uganda were pegged back in the first over of their chase, losing their openers off the second and the fourth balls. They struggled to forge any strong partnerships, with 26 for the seventh wicket being the highest, and collapsed to 93 in the 18th over. Jeremy Gordon and Abzal Dean picked up a couple of wickets each.
UAE 142 for 3 (Khurram 67*, Afzal 2-16) beat Hong Kong 138 for 8 (Atkinson 42, Guruge 3-19, Aziz 3-20) by seven wickets
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
An unbeaten half-century by Khurram Khan helped UAE easily overhaul the target set up by Hong Kong in Sharjah. Khurram arrived at the crease in the fifth over after UAE had lost two wickets and added 76 for the third with Mohammad Azam (37) before compiling another 44 in the company of Swapnil Patil. He smashed four sixes and five fours in his 42-ball 67 - his best T20 score - as UAE achieved the target in the 19th over.
Hong Kong, put in to bat, had appeared set for a strong total after they were 95 for 2 in the 13th over, with captain Jamie Atkinson (42) leading from the front. But his dismissal - he was bowled by Khurram - slowed down the team's charge and the innings was restricted to 138. Manjula Guruge and Nasir Aziz picked three wickets each.