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Canada defeated Germany by six wickets while Bahrain beat the Philippines by 91 runs in the classification round of the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup Qualifier A, supported by Dream 11, at Al Amerat on Tuesday. Canada were pushed till the end by a determined Germany as they chased down the victory target of 132 with three balls to spare.
In the other match of the morning session, Bahrain continued their winning momentum, notching up their second win in a row. They defeated Philippines by a huge margin after beating UAE in the Group B league match on Monday.
Victory for Canada and Bahrain set them up for a fifth-place playoff game while Germany will take on Philippines for the seventh-place playoff spot on Thursday.
Canada thrived on a valuable partnership between skipper Navneet Dhaliwal and Matthew Spoors.
They had lost their opener Rayyan Pathan off the second ball of the match. Dieter Klein was the pick of German bowlers with his three-wicket haul. He first got rid of Pathan when the opener was caught behind by Michael Richardson.
Dhaliwal and player of the match, Spoors, then forged an 85-run stand to revive the team’s fortunes.
Dhaliwal’s exit in the 14th over was a result of a brilliant catch in the deep by Fayaz Khan off Dylan Blignaut. The skipper contributed 37 off 40.
Spoors stayed unbeaten on 73 off 55 and ensured that Canada complete a tense victory. Dilon Heyliger (17) and Ravinderpal Singh left in a space of 10 balls, both falling to Klein.
The German pacer bowled three dot balls in his 19th and had Singh caught behind on the fourth. Canada needed 12 off eight but Spoors hit a four and a six to ease the nerves and steer the side to win in the final over. Put to bat first, Germany lost their momentum at the halfway stage to finish at 131-6. Opener Justin Broad and Michael Richardson shared a valuable 49-run second-wicket partnership.
Broad’s opening partner Vijaya Shankar fell in the fourth over with the total at 16. Richardson displayed lot of positive intent in his strokes as he cut behind square and exhibited the drives and pull shots during his 26-ball 35. His innings were laced with five boundaries.
Left-arm spinner Salman Nazar broke the partnership when he had Broad trapped leg before for 28.
Two overs later came the turning point that tilted the scales in Canada’s favour.
Skipper Dhaliwal introduced Matthew Spoors into the attack. The 22-year-old leg-spinner met with success straightaway as he cleaned up Richardson off his second ball. New batter Dylan Blignaut was run out two balls later and the double blow left Germany at 80-4.
Faisal Mubashir, who was the top-scorer against Ireland on Monday with 40-ball 45, then attempted to get quick runs on board. His innings was cut short by Salman Nazar, as he was stumped by Shreyas Movva off a wide ball.
Canada bowlers kept their line and length hard and Nazar got his third victim when he trapped Dieter Klein to end his spell with 3-27. A couple of big hits from Fayaz Khan in the 19th pushed the score after skipper Venkat Ganesan had retired hurt for twelve in the previous over.
Navneet Dhaliwal, Captain Canada said: “It was very tough to come back into this match after the loss against the UAE yesterday. The energy level was certainly missing but I am happy that we could get over the line today. We deserve to win more games at this level. We will try to end the campaign on Thursday on a victorious note against Bahrain.”
Venkat Ganesan, Captain Germany said: “It was a close game, and we did sense win at one stage. After a below-par score, we showed character in our fightback. We do learn from such games, and we will take this defeat as part of our learning curve.”
Kurup shines for Bahrain
Electing to bat first after winning the toss, Bahrain’s skipper Sarfaraz Ali started the Powerplay in a whirlwind fashion and blitzed his way to a 17-ball 32.
The fourth over saw a slight momentum shift in the Philippines’ favour, as an astounding catch from Daniel Smith ended Umer Imtiaz’s innings abruptly. Sarfaraz Ali was dismissed in the very next ball.
However, with a 90-run fourth wicket stand between Shahbaz Badar and Prashant Kurup, Bahrain regained total control. Shahbaz looked good for his 44, but was undoubtedly the support act as Prashant’s effortless brilliance took centre stage.
His 74 runs alongside late cameos from Sikder Billah and Veerapathiran Sathaiya meant that the Philippines entered the dressing room at half-time, faced with the daunting task of chasing 191.
Henry Tyler had been their best bowler, recording figures of 3/40.
Philippines responded by posting their highest ever total in T20 Internationals. Yet, they fell well short after finishing on 100/9 in 20 overs. Machanda Biddappa top scored with a spirited 26-run knock, negotiating some top-class Bahrain bowling admirably. Gurbhupinder Chohan, Grant Russ and Jordan Alegre all chipped in, making 17, 15 and 13 respectively.
Ultimately the asking rate proved far too high, the fall of wickets proved far too frequent, and Bahrain strolled to a comfortable and well-deserved victory. Junaid Aziz and Haider Butt picked up three wickets apiece.
Sarfaraz Ali, Captain Bahrain said: “We have enjoyed the whole tournament. All the days we have been here, we have put in some good performances and today was one too. I’m very happy for the team. Hopefully we win our next game too. We will look to execute our plans and play well.”
Jonathan Hull, Captain Philippines said: “I think our bowling performance markedly improved from the 200s we conceded earlier. Over the series, we have played together, understood each other – each one’s strengths and weaknesses. That will be great for the future so that is definitely a positive. We want to improve our batting. We are not able to score too many runs so we will talk about that tonight before the next game. But this is our first tournament in three years. We are growing together as a team and I’m looking forward to the future.”
The ICC Men’s T20 World Cup Qualifier A streamed live on FanCode in the Indian sub-continent and on ICC.tv across the rest of the world.