La foto

In piedi da sinistra a destra:

Luca bruno (Manager), kelum perera (Assistente Coach), Andy Northcote, Michael Di venuto, Hayden Patrizi, Vincenzo Pennazza, Dilan Arasakulasuriya, Luis Di Giglio, Hemantha Jayasena, Richard Pilling (Fisioterapista), Joe Scuderi (Coach)

Accosciati da sinistra a destra:

Peter Petricola, Shan Munasinghe, Carl Sandri, Damian Muthumagonnage, Alessandro Bonora (Capitano), gareth berg, Damian Crowley

Stirling leads Ireland to title triumph

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Dubai, 24 March 2012

Stirling leads Ireland to title triumph

Ireland makes it to Group B, Afghanistan joins Group A of ICC World Twenty20 2012

Namibia’s Raymond van Schoor named Player of the Tournament

SNTV to put out VNR; Images available for free download as ICC FTP site

Ireland beat Afghanistan by five wickets in the Final of the ICC World Twenty20 Qualifier UAE 2012 to emerge champion at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium (DICS) on Saturday evening.

If it was the bowlers who set up the win over Namibia in the 2nd Qualifying Final earlier on Saturday, Ireland was well served by a dazzling knock from Paul Stirling (79: 38b, 9x4, 3x6), who hit the second fastest half-century in Twenty20 International history, to star in the win.

While Stirling’s efforts won him the Man of the match award, Namibia’s Raymond van Schoor was voted by the tournament match officials as the Player of the Tournament for logging 324 runs in nine games at an average of 54 and a strike rate of 110.95 and also picking up six wickets.

Afghanistan posted 152-7 in its 20 overs after opting to bat first and in its chase, Ireland ended at

156-5 in18.5 overs. Ireland had its sweet revenge to Afghanistan today having lost the ICC World Twenty20 Qualifier final in 2010 to the side.

The final line up of the ICC World Twenty20 Sri Lanka 2012, to be staged from 18 September to 7 October, has now been decided.

Ireland as the tournament winner joins Australia and the West Indies in Group B, while the losing finalist will complete Group A which also includes defending champion England and 2007 winner India.

Earlier, wicketkeeper Mohammad Shahzad (77: 57b, 7x4, 2x6) held the Afghanistan innings together with some audacious shot-making. For Ireland, Kevin O’Brien (two for 18) and Max Sorensen (two for 26) were the wicket-takers.

Unlike in the other play-off encounters, Ireland lost a few early wickets but Stirling was in awesome touch as he hit his second half-century of the day.

Fast bowler Dawlat Zadran picked up three wickets, including Ireland skipper William Porterfield off the first ball of the chase, to raise Afghanistan hopes.

But in the end Gary Wilson and Andrew White teamed up well to lead Ireland home.

Stirling ended as the leading run-getter of the tournament with 357 runs in 11 games and Shahzad finished at the second position scoring 352 runs in nine games

Man of the match Stirling said: “I think we came out positively.  Under the lights, the ball came up well. Afghanistan has strong bowling, they’ve got one of the strongest team attacks in the tournament. The wicket suited my style.  It was my first time playing under lights and tonight showed that the runs go up when you play later in the day.”

Porterfield was delighted with the Irish victory: “It’s really pleasing to win a trophy.  Ten games unbeaten is a fantastic effort from the lads. it’s a long way to go now to the ICC World Twenty20. 

“We’re obviously looking forward to it, playing against Australia and the West Indies is going to be a tough task.  We’ve got to keep working hard and improving our skills.

“In the last few games, we came out pretty hard against everyone.  Afghanistan got a good start today, but we regularly took wickets.  We made it easy for ourselves in the end.”

Nawroz Mangal admitted Ireland was one of the best teams and that Stirling had been key: “Our score was good enough.  The batters achieved what we planned for, especially getting the wicket of Porterfield on the first ball was good enough start.  But the way Stirling played he demolished every plan we had.

“The two best teams played the final.  The way they can bat is amazing.  We were expecting Ireland to be in the ICC Twenty20 2012.  Especially as they have played a few more ICC Twenty20s than us. They have more experience than us.”

Player of the Tournament van Schoor admitted it was disappointing to have not qualified but was thrilled with his accolade: “It’s a big honour to be Player of the Tournament.  There were big names like Kevin O’Brien just to mention a few, so it is a great honour.

“It’s a big disappointment for the team.  If someone had told us to take third place before the tournament we would have taken it.  But winning seven out of seven, it’s disappointing to not make the finals tonight.”

ICC Chief Executive Haroon Lorgat congratulated and welcomed Afghanistan and Ireland to play at the ICC World Twenty20 Sri Lanka 2012. Mr Lorgat said: “Both, Afghanistan and Ireland deserve great credit for winning through a tough competition structure to qualify on merit to play at the ICC World Twenty20 Sri Lanka 2012.

“Both these countries would have expected to qualify.

“During the group stages and in the play-offs of the tournament, we have seen some fantastic matches and some wonderful individual performances. Thanks to ESPN Star Sports and all our other sub-licensees, I am sure that the large global audience would have enjoyed watching all 16 countries in action through the live broadcast of the ICC World Twenty20 Qualifier.  

“I am sure fans across the world will now keep a close eye on both Afghanistan and Ireland as they continue their dreams to become world champions.

“It is a very exciting time for Associate and Affiliate cricket to have Afghanistan and Ireland competing at the ICC World Twenty20.”

Afghanistan will join defending champion England and 2007 winner India in Group A, while Ireland will play alongside Australia and the West Indies in Group B.

Mr Lorgat also added: “I must take this opportunity to thank the Emirates Cricket Board, the staff at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium, the Sharjah Cricket Stadium and the Sheikh Zayed Cricket Stadium in Abu Dhabi as well as the world acclaimed ICC Global Cricket Academy for their outstanding support of this event.

“Logistically it has been one of the most challenging tournaments in ICC history and I am sure that every one of the 16 teams would join me in saluting the ICC Development Department and the ICC staff for successfully delivering a wonderful event.”

Final

Ireland beats Afghanistan by five wickets at Dubai International Cricket Stadium, Dubai Sports City

Afghanistan 152-7, 20 overs (Mohammad Shahzad 77; Kevin O'Brien 2-18, Max Sorensen 2-26)

Ireland 156-5, 18.5 overs (Paul Stirling 79, Gary Wilson 32, Andrew White 23 n.o.; Dawlat Zadran 3-21, Aftab Alam 2-34)

Man of the Final: Paul Stirling (Ireland)

Ireland becomes second side to qualify for ICC World Twenty20

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Dubai, 24 March 2012

Ireland becomes second side to qualify for ICC World Twenty20

To play Afghanistan in the final on Saturday evening to decide line-up in the ICC World Twenty20 Sri Lanka 2012

Max Sorensen wins Man of the Match award for his 2-8 spell

SNTV to put out VNR; Images available for free download as ICC FTP site

Ireland became the second side to qualify for the ICC World Twenty20 Sri Lanka 2012 when it comprehensively beat Namibia by nine wickets in the 2nd Qualifying Final of the ICC World Twenty20 Qualifier UAE 2012 at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium (DICS) on Saturday afternoon.

Ireland bowlers, led by fast-medium bowlers Trent Johnston and Max Sorensen, restricted Namibia’s in-form batting line-up to just 94-6 all out in 20 overs. Ireland chased down the target in just 10.1 overs to end at 96-1, thanks to Paul Stirling’s unbeaten 59 off 32 balls with nine boundaries and a six.

With this win, Ireland avenged the loss in the opening league game of the tournament to Namibia.

Earlier, while Trent Johnston ended with figures of (two for 19) he was upstaged by Max Sorensen, who bowled a spell of 4-2-8-2 with no fewer than 17 dot balls, to earn the man of the match award.

The victory, apart from earning Ireland a ticket to Sri Lanka for the tournament proper to be staged from 18 September to 7 October, has also set up a final of the qualifying tournament against Afghanistan, which will start at 1800 (local time) at the DICS on Saturday, 24 March.*

The final line up of the ICC World Twenty20 Sri Lanka 2012 will be decided on the basis of how the final finishes. The tournament winner joins Australia and the West Indies in Group B, while the losing finalist will complete Group A which also includes defending champion England and 2007 winner India.

Namibia won the toss and elected to bat first. But Namibia’s batting never got going as Ireland’s new-ball attack had a vice-like grip.

Ian Opperman (26 n.o.) captain Sarel Burger (20) were the only batsmen to make any impact in the innings. So good was the Ireland bowling that left-arm spinner George Dockrell was not even pressed into the attack by captain William Porterfield.

In the chase, Ireland top-order batted like in the other play-off games, knocking off the runs in a hurry. Stirling and Porterfield added 41 runs for the first wicket. Thereafter Ed Joyce joined Stirling to end the chase in fine style.

A disappointed Namibia captain Sarel Burger later said: “It was the right decision to bat first. Unfortunately we did not end up scoring the runs we should have. The pitch does not change much over 20 overs. Ireland came out and bowled very well.

“There was a lot of anticipation and excitement. Maybe due to big expectations, one tends to get carried away. A lot of times you put yourself under a lot of pressure.

“I think the sad part is we had the momentum very early on, unfortunately it started running out towards the end. It was a great learning curve for the younger players and even the senior players.

“We have got the ICC Intercontinental Cup to look forward to. We have played well enough to make people proud of our performances.”

Porterfield was thrilled at qualifying for yet another ICC global event.

“I think Namibia played well throughout the tournament. It was easy picking ourselves up after the defeat against Namibia in the first game because we lost by just four runs.

“We came here with a goal of winning this tournament. The qualification has been achieved. We have done it the hard way but it is yet another great day for Irish sport. We just want to keep it going.

Man of the match, Sorensen was delighted to have played a significant part in Ireland’s win.

“I am delighted with my performance. It is great to be playing for this team. I am new in this team and taking every day as it comes. I just told myself that I want to start well. I have leaked a few more runs in the previous games. So it was good to be in the rhythm early on. I bowled a little back of the length and it went off well for us.”

ICC Chief Executive Haroon Lorgat complimented Ireland on its qualification for the ICC WT20 event.  Ireland will be making its third appearance at the ICC World Twenty20 event after having played in the 2009 and 2010 editions.

Mr Lorgat said: “Congratulations are in order and I know this means a lot to Cricket Ireland, the team and the nation for qualifying to play in the ICC World Twenty20 Sri Lanka 2012.

“This is worthy reward for the Irish team and also illustrates the continuing success of the Gatorade ICC High Performance Programme.

“Having previously made headlines across the world with their astonishing triumph over England in the last ICC Cricket World Cup, I am sure that Ireland will expect to perform at even greater levels in Sri Lanka later this year.

“Namibia also deserves praise as they have performed extremely well throughout the tournament having won all seven of their group games. While they may be disappointed today, Namibia is a young team and has shown great strides in their performance level.”

2nd Qualifying Final

Ireland beats Namibia by nine wickets at Dubai International Cricket Stadium, Dubai Sports City

Namibia 94-6, 20 overs (Ian Opperman 26, Sarel Burger 20; Max Sorensen 2-8, Trent Johnston 2-19)

Ireland  96-1, 10.1 overs (Paul Stirling 59 n.o., William Porterfied 20)

Man of the Match: Max Sorensen (Ireland)

Ireland inches closer to ICC World Twenty20 Sri Lanka 2012 qualification

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Dubai, 23 March 2012

Ireland inches closer to ICC World Twenty20 Sri Lanka 2012 qualification

William Porterfield’s men will take on Namibia tomorrow in Second Qualifying Final in Dubai

Man of the match Kevin O’Brien helps Ireland defeat Netherlands by seven wickets

SNTV to put out VNR; Images available for free download as ICC FTP site

Ireland inched closer to its target of joining Afghanistan in the ICC World Twenty20 Sri Lanka 2012 when it beat The Netherlands by seven wickets in the Preliminary Final of the ICC World Twenty20 Qualifier UAE 2012 at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium (DICS) on Friday morning.

In front of its loyal travelling supporters, Ireland’s bowlers combined to restrict Netherlands for a meagre 114-7 in 20 overs in its Twenty20 International fixture that included a spectacular catch by Ireland captain William Porterfield to dismiss opener Stephan Myburgh. The 27-year-old Porterfield claimed the catch while running backwards at point as Myburgh skied a ball delivered by Trent Johnston.

Kevin O’Brien proved to be the key once again, despite being Ireland’s sixth bowler today, when the bustling all-rounder claimed the wickets of Tom Cooper and Mudassar Bukhari, while also smashing a 22-ball 30 that included three massive sixes to help Ireland to its victory and a place in the Second Qualifying Final against Namibia on Saturday at Dubai International Cricket Stadium.

Meanwhile, Afghanistan earned its ticket to Sri Lanka yesterday, when it defeated Namibia in the First Qualifying Final, but it will not know who it will face in the final of the tournament until the conclusion of tomorrow morning’s Second Qualifying Final between Ireland and Namibia. The winner of the Ireland v Namibia game will join Afghanistan as the second qualifying team for the ICC World Twenty20 Sri Lanka 2012.

The grouping of the ICC World Twenty20 Sri Lanka 2012 will be decided on the basis of how the final pans out. The tournament winner joins Australia and the West Indies in Group B, while the losing finalist will complete Group A which also includes defending champion England and 2007 winner India.

In Ireland’s victory today, while O’Brien proved important, left-arm-spinner George Dockrell participated with a nifty caught and bowled to dismiss Netherlands’ top scorer of the innings, Alexei Kervezee (56).

Ireland’s opening partnership, William Porterfield and Paul Stirling combined to add a quick fire 41 before Porterfield departed in the fourth over, it was then up to Stirling and Ed Joyce to add to the total. After Stirling’s departure in the ninth over, Michael Swart looked set for a hat-trick as he dismissed Gary Wilson off his next ball but O’Brien smacked his way to 30 alongside Joyce to secure Ireland’s place in the Second Qualifying Final. 

Man of the match O’Brien said looking ahead to facing Namibia tomorrow in the Qualifying Final: “We certainly started slowly in the tournament, though you’ve got to give credit to Namibia because they batted well and they bowled very well towards the end of the innings in our previous match.  We’ve played them a lot now, so they obviously know us and we know them so it’s going to be a close game tomorrow.

“You could say we’re out for revenge after losing that first game, but we’ve won eight in a row now and we’re full of confidence and we’re looking forwards to tomorrow’s game.  It’s going to be a great game, a close game, and hopefully we can come out on top.”

Netherlands captain Peter Borren was obviously disappointed that the side didn’t manage to restrict Ireland’s run chase: “It’s pretty disappointing to not finish in the top two. The partnership between Alexei Kervezee and Tom Cooper put us in a position, gave us the opportunity to go on and get 140, 145.  The wicket of Cooper was crucial, because we struggled to maintain the momentum.  We were never going to defend 114.

“Next week we’ve got two ODIs against Afghanistan in Sharjah.  They’re massive games because they’re part of the qualification for the next ICC Cricket World Cup.  We’ve won two and lost two in that competition, so if we can get two wins there in Sharjah that would be great against an in-from Afghanistan. It’s now about focusing on the ODI matches.”

In the sixth place play-off, which was also another Twenty20 International, Scotland claimed a consolation victory over Canada when the side won by four wickets at Dubai International Cricket Stadium in a last ball thriller that saw the side requiring four runs off the last ball of the match.

Canada managed to amass just 135 in its 20 overs, after Richie Berrington and Moneeb Iqbal claimed two wickets each in restricting Canada. Ruvindu Gunasekera (20) and all-rounder Harvir Baidwan (21) were the two highest run-scorers in the innings that saw Canada’s batsmen struggle against the wicket.

In reply, Scotland, led by all-rounder Berrington (47 in 37 balls) looked to be cruising to the total despite Calum Macleod and Preston Mommsen departing early in the innings, some scrappy batting by Kyle Coetzer and Fraser Watts kept the side in contention to chase down the target.

However the team was left requiring seven runs off the last over and things began to look unlikely for Scotland to win as Canada’s Rizwan Cheema attempted to restrict the side’s run-making, the captain dismissing Watts with his first ball and leaving the Scottish side requiring four runs off the last ball of the match.

Ryan Flannigan and Majid Haq were the men in the middle charged with getting those four runs and Flannigan managed to strike Cheema’s final ball through extra cover where Nitesh Kumar attempted to prevent the boundary but much to his despair the ball skipped over the boundary and Scotland began its celebrations.

By virtue of today’s Twenty20 Internationals involving Ireland, Netherlands, Scotland and Canada the latter three countries have now joined the Reliance ICC Twenty20 Rankings for the first time. Ireland currently occupies ninth place while Netherlands have entered the rankings for the first time to occupy 11th, Scotland has made its debut at 13th and Netherlands joins the top 15 teams in 14th place. 

More information on the Reliance ICC Twenty20 Rankings can be found here.

Preliminary Final

Ireland beats Netherlands by seven wickets at Dubai International Cricket Stadium

Netherlands 114-7, 20 overs (Alexei Kervezee 56, Tom Cooper 26; Kevin O’Brien 2-17)

Ireland 115-3, 16.4 overs (William Porterfield 17, Paul Stirling 33, Ed Joyce 25 n.o., Kevin O’Brien 30 n.o.; Michael Swart 2-23)

Man of the Match: Kevin O’Brien (Ireland)

Play-offs

Scotland beats Canada by four wickets at Dubai International Cricket Stadium

Canada 135-8, 20 overs (Ruvindu Gunasekera 20, Harvir Baidwan 21; Richie Berrington 2-14, Moneeb Iqbal 2-15)

Scotland 136-6, 20 overs (Richie Berrington 47, Kyle Coetzer 22, Ryan Flannigan 15 not out; Junaid Siddiqui 2-12)

Man of the match: Richie Berrington (Scotland)

Kenya beats Italy by 38 runs at GCA Oval 1

Kenya 170-5, 20 overs (Maurice Ouma 51 n.o., Collins Obuya 41; Vince Pennazza 2-33)

Italy 132, 18.3 overs (Peter Petricola 37, Andy Northcote 35; Hiren Varraiya 4-25, Shem Ngoche 3-32)

Man of the Match: Hiren Varaiya (Kenya)

Nepal beats PNG by six wickets at GCA Oval 1

PNG 129-5, 20 overs (Vani Morea 34 n.o., Christopher Kent 22, Tony Ura 21; Shakti Gauchan 2-20)

Nepal 133-4, 19.5 overs (Paras Khadka 62 n.o., Prithu Baskota 26 n.o.)

Man of the Match: Paras Khadka (Nepal)

Hong Kong beats USA by 77 runs at GCA Oval 2

Hong Kong 177-4, 20 overs (James Atkinson 63, Babar Hayat 35 n.o., Nizakat Khan 32; Orlando Baker 2-24)

USA 100, 16.2 overs (Steven Taylor 26; Aizaz Khan 5-25, Nizakat Khan 3-11)

Man of the Match: Aizaz Khan (Hong Kong)

Bermuda beats Uganda by 41 runs at GCA Oval 2

Bermuda 179-4, 20 overs (Janeiro Tucker 67 n.o., Fiqre Crockwell 47, Lionel Cann 42; Jonathn Sebanja 2-31)

Uganda 138-5, 20 overs (Arthur Kyobe 37, Jonathan Sebanja 34 n.o.)

Man of the Match: Janeiro Tucker (Bermuda)

Saturday’s schedule

Preliminary Final: Ireland v Namibia (1000-1300), Dubai International Cricket Stadium – Adrian Griffith (match referee), Johan Cloete and Ranmore Martinesz (both on-field), Ahsan Raza (third umpire)

Final: Afghanistan v Winner of Ireland v Namibia (1800-2100), David Jukes match referee), Chris Gaffaney and Buddhi Pradhan (both on-field), Ian Ramage (third umpire)

Afghanistan qualifies for second successive ICC World Twenty20

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Dubai, 22 March 2012

Afghanistan qualifies for second successive ICC World Twenty20

Dawlat Zadran wins man of the match award; Aftab Alam grabs four for 25

Ireland squares off against Netherlands on Friday with winner to play Namibia on Saturday for second available spot in the ICC World Twenty20 Sri Lanka 2012

SNTV to put out VNR; Images available for free download as ICC FTP site

Afghanistan qualified for its second successive ICC World Twenty20 when it comprehensively beat Namibia by 47 runs in the 1st Qualifying Final of the ICC World Twenty20 Qualifier UAE 2012 at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium (DICS) on Thursday afternoon.

In front of about 3,500 cheering and jubilant supporters, Afghanistan fast bowler Dawlat Zadran dismissed Namibia’s in-form openers Raymond van Schoor and Gerrie Snyman in his first over and then his new ball partner Aftab Alam ripped the heart out of the African side, as it stuttered to 99 all out in 18.1 overs after being set a target of 147.

Man of the match Zadran finished with impressive figures of 3.1-1-5-3 while Alam returned figures of 4-0-25-4.

The victory, apart from earning Afghanistan a ticket to Sri Lanka for the tournament proper to be staged from 18 September to 7 October, has also put it in the final of the qualifying tournament which will start at 1800 (local time) at the DICS on Saturday, 24 March.

While Afghanistan has been assured of a place in the tournament proper alongside the 10 Full Members, Namibia still has an opportunity to win the second and last available spot when it plays the winner of Ireland and Netherlands match on the morning of Saturday, 24 March.

On Thursday morning, Ireland had reached the Preliminary Final after recording a thumping 10 wickets victory over Canada where it was joined by Netherlands which ended the challenge of Scotland by three wickets.

The grouping of the ICC World Twenty20 Sri Lanka 2012 will be decided on the basis of how the final pans out. The tournament winner joins Australia and the West Indies in Group B, while the losing finalist will complete Group A which also includes defending champion England and 2007 winner India.

Afghanistan won the toss and elected to bat first on a good batting surface. All its frontline batsmen made good starts but failed to convert these starts into big innings. As such, the entire side was bowled out for 146 in 20 overs.

Karim Sadiq (28), Javed Ahmadi (24), Asghar Stanikzai (19) and Mohammad Nabi (18) were the prominent run-getters while 57-run first wicket stand between Karim and Javed was Afghanistan’s highest partnership.

Namibia captain Sarel Burger (three for 16) and Christi Viljoen (three for 34) not only picked up wickets at regular intervals but also didn’t allow the attacking Afghan batsmen to free their arms.

In turn, Zadran sent back the two in-form Namibian openers back in the hut in the first five balls of the opening over before Alam ended the prospects of a close finish when he picked up the prized scalp of Louis van der Westhuizen in the fourth over as Namibia eventually fell 47 runs short after being bowled out for 99.

ICC Chief Executive Haroon Lorgat complimented Afghanistan on its achievement. Mr Lorgat said: “Many congratulations to Nawroz Mangal’s fantastic team for becoming the first side to qualify for the ICC World Twenty20 Sri Lanka 2012.

“A second successive appearance for Afghanistan in a global ICC event after having only started to play internationally in the Pepsi ICC World Cricket League Division 5 tournament in 2008, is very impressive.

“I expect there will be lots of celebrations in Kabul today … and why not? After all, this team has once again made its people proud by earning the right to play alongside the Full Members in a global ICC event.

“By qualifying for the ICC World T20 tournament, which will be followed by billions across the globe, Afghanistan will get another chance to showcase its talents and passion for the game of cricket. Judging by how they have played in recent years, I have no doubt that they will be a team to be reckoned with.

“Namibia also deserves to be congratulated as it has performed well throughout this tournament. While it may be disappointed today, it still has another opportunity to qualify as it will now play the winner of Ireland and Netherland’s match to will determine the second country to qualify for the main event.”

In a one-sided Ireland-Canada match at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium, the North Americans batted first after winning the toss and managed only 106 for eight against a disciplined Irish bowling. Opener Ruvindu Gunasekera (23), Tyson Gordon (23) and Nitish Kumar (17) were the only batsmen who reached double figures.

Ireland’s left-arm spinner George Dockrell (three for 19), fast bowler Max Sorensen (three for 20) and veteran Trent Johnston (two for nine) shared wickets.

In turn, openers Paul Stirling and captain William Porterfield achieved the target in less than 10 overs without being separated. Stirling clubbed nine fours and three sixes in a 32-ball 61 not out while Porterfield’s 25-ball 42 including eight sizzling fours.

Johnston, reflecting on his man of the match performance, said: “I think that the more games we’re playing, the better I’m getting.  

“I’ve always enjoyed bowling here as it reminds me of the Australian wickets.  I think as a bowler, you know there’s something in there if you are prepared to bend your back.”

At the ICC Global Cricket Academy Oval 1, Tom Cooper produced his best batting performance of the tournament when he scored an electrifying 60 that helped the Netherlands defeat Scotland by three wickets.

Cooper slapped four fours and as many sixes in a 32-ball 62 which helped the Dutch to overhaul the 167-run target with three wickets and five balls to spare.

Cooper took the crease at the score of 67 for three in 9.1 overs and when he became the seventh and last Dutch batsman to get out, 15 runs were required off 12 balls. Tom de Grooth and Tim Gruijters ensured that their side crossed the line without any further hiccups when they scored the required 15 runs in seven balls.

Earlier, Scotland, electing to bat first after winning the toss, collected 166 for five with openers Callum MacLeod (57) and Richie Berrington (37)  adding 59 runs for the first wicket and then MacLeod and Preseton Mommsen (26) putting on 54 runs for the second wicket.

For Netherlands, Pieter Seelaar two for 25), Mudassar Bukhari (two for 30) and Peter Borren (two for 32) shared wickets.

A smiling Cooper said later: “The target was probably par for this pitch. So we were confident of chasing it down. We did well to pull things back in bowling. I knew that if one of us stayed till the end then we could chase it down.”

1st Qualifying Final

Afghanistan beats Namibia by 47 runs at Dubai International Cricket Stadium, Dubai Sports City

Afghanistan 146 all out, 20 overs (Karim Sadiq 28, Javed Ahmadi 24, Asghar Stanikzai 19, Mohammad Nabi 18; Sarel Burger 3-16, Christoffel Viljoen 3-34)
Namibia 99 all out, 18.1 overs (Sarel Burger 22, Bernard Scholtz 22; Aftab Alam 4-25, Dawlat Zadran 3-5)

Man of the match: Dawlat Zadran (Afghanistan)

Preliminary Round (semi-finals)

Ireland beats Canada by 10 wickets at Dubai International Cricket Stadium, Dubai Sports City

Canada 106-8, 20 overs (Ruvindu Gunasekera 26, Tyson Gordon 23; George Dockrell 3-19, Max Sorensen 3-20, Trent Johnston 2-9)

Ireland 109-0, 9.3 overs (Paul Stirling 61 not out, William Porterfield 42 not out)

Man of the Match: Trent Johnston (Ireland)

Netherlands beats Scotland by three wickets at ICC GCA, Oval 1, Dubai Sports City

Scotland 166-6, 20 overs (Callum MacLeod 57, Richie Berrington 37; Pieter Seelaar 2-25, Mudassar Bukhari 2-30, Peter Borren 2-32)

Netherlands 169-7, 19.1 overs (Tom Cooper 60, Stephan Myburgh 36; Richie Berrington 2-13, Majid Haq 3-22, Gordon Drummond 2-35)

Man of the Match: Tom Cooper (Netherlands)

Play-offs

USA beats Bermuda by 34 runs at the Sharjah Cricket Stadium

USA 193-5, 20 overs (Sushil Nadkarni 48, Orlando Baker 39, Steven Taylor 38; Sam Robinson 2-41)

Bermuda 159-8, 20 overs (Lionel Cann 73; Muhammad Ghous 2-20, Abhimanyu Rajp 2-30, Elmore Hutchinson 2-33)

Man of the Match: Sushil Nadkarni (USA)

PNG beats Italy by 12 runs at the GCA Oval 2, Dubai Sports City

PNG 118-9, 20 overs (Tony Ura 37; Damian Crowley 4-18, Carl Sandri 2-18)

Italy 106-7, 20 overs (Peter Petricola 30, Damian Crowley 24; Hitolo Areni 3-9)

Man of the Match: Hitolo Areni (PNG)

Nepal beats Kenya by five wickets at GCA Oval 1, Dubai Sports City

Kenya 139-4, 20 overs (Collins Obuya 52, Duncan Allan 32; Basanta Regmi 3-23)

Nepal 141-5, 19.4 overs (Pradeep Airee 45, Anil Mandal 32; James Ngoche 3-23)

Man of the Match: Basanta Regmi (Nepal)

Hong Kong beats Uganda by five wickets at Sharjah Cricket Stadium, Sharjah

Uganda 130-8, 20 overs (Arthur Kyobe32, Roger Mukasa30; Irfan Ahmed 3-30)

Hong Kong 134-5, 19.2 overs (Irfan Ahmed 55, Waqas Barkat 31, James Atkinson 30; Brian Masaba 2-8, Deusdedit Muhumuza 2-27)

Man of the match Irfan Ahmed (Hong Kong)

Oman beat Denmark by 17 runs at ICC GCA, Oval 2, Dubai Sports City

Oman 155-5, 20 overs (Zeeshan Siddiqui 67, Jatinder Singh 57, Rajeshkumar Ranpura 21; Martin Pedersen 2-23)

Denmark 138-6, 20 overs (Frederik Klokker 40, Aftab Ahmed 36, Martin Pedersen 30; Hemal Metha 3-29)

Man of the match Zeeshan Siddiqui (Oman)

Friday’s schedule

Ireland v Netherlands (1000-1300), Dubai International Cricket Stadium – Graeme La Brooy (match referee), Ahsan Raza and Chris Gaffaney (both on-field), Joel Wilson (third umpire)

Nepal v PNG (1000-1300), Global Cricket Academy Oval No.1, Dubai Sports City - Adrian Griffith (match referee), Sudhir Asnani and Roger Dill (both on-field), Ian Ramage (third umpire)

Uganda v Bermuda (1000-1300), Global Cricket Academy Oval No.2, Dubai Sports City - David Jukes (match referee), Mark Hawthorne and Sarika Prasad (both on-field), Johan Cloete (third umpire)

Scotland v Canada (1400-1700), Dubai International Cricket Stadium, Dubai - Dev Govindjee (match referee), Buddhi Pradhan and Joel Wilson (both on-field), Ahsan Raza (third umpire)

Kenya v Italy (1400-1700), Global Cricket Academy Oval No.1, Dubai Sports City - Adrian Griffith (match referee), Ranmore Martinesz and Ian Ramage (both on-field), Sudhir Asnani (third umpire)

Hong Kong v USA (1400-1700), Global Cricket Academy Oval No.2, Dubai Sports City - David Jukes (match referee), Mark Hawthorne and Johan Cloete (both on-field), Sarika Prasad (third umpire)

ICC World Twenty20 Sri Lanka 2012 to have first qualifier on Thursday as Afghanistan locks horns with Namibia in a live broadcast match in Dubai

ICC MEDIA RELEASE

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Dubai, 21 March 2012

ICC World Twenty20 Sri Lanka 2012 to have first qualifier on Thursday as Afghanistan locks horns with Namibia in a live broadcast match in Dubai

In first and second cross-over matches, Ireland faces Canada and Netherlands takes on Scotland

SNTV to put out a VNR, images to be available for free editorial use at ICC FTP site

The ICC World Twenty20 Sri Lanka 2012 will have the first of its two qualifiers on Thursday afternoon when unbeaten Afghanistan and Namibia go head to the head in the 1st Qualifying Final of the ICC World Twenty20 Qualifier UAE 2012 at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium (DICS) on Thursday.

The match will start at 1400 (local time) and entry to the picturesque stadium, located inside the Dubai Sports City, will be free. This will be one of the six matches at the DICS from 22-24 March to be shown live online at www.espnstar.com/live.

The ICC has also secured live television coverage of the games to be played at the DICS into key territories via ESPN STAR Sports and its licensees around the globe, ensuring prominent exposure for the event across Asia, Africa, the Middle East, North America and beyond.*

While the winner of Thursday afternoon’s match will qualify for the tournament proper, the second and final qualifier will emerge on the morning of 24 March when the loser of the 1st Qualifying Final will square-off against the winner of the Preliminary Final (to be played between Netherlands, Canada, Ireland and Scotland in a cross-over format) on the morning of the same days at DICS.

In the tournament finale at the DICS on 24 March, the two qualifiers will square-off against each other and at stake will be the winner’s trophy as well as the placing in the Sri Lanka tournament. The tournament winner will join Australia and the West Indies in Group B while the losing team will complete Group A which also includes defending champion England and 2007 winner India.

Defending tournament champion Afghanistan enters Thursday’s match against Namibia as firm favourite. Apart from being very consistent with its performance which at times became simply outstanding, Afghanistan will also be returning to its happy hunting ground where it beat Ireland by eight wickets in the final of the ICC World Twenty20 Qualifier UAE 2010 to reach the ICC World Twenty20 2010 in the West Indies.

In this tournament to date, Afghanistan defeated Papua New Guinea (PNG) by six wickets, Netherlands by four wickets, Denmark by 89 runs, Nepal by 34 runs, Canada by 41 runs, Hong Kong by nine wickets and Bermuda by 15 runs.

Afghanistan’s wicketkeeper-batsman Mohammad Shahzad is in good form of late and is the second leading run-getter in the tournament with 261 runs. Karim Sadiq is 11 runs behind Shahzad with 255 runs.

In contrast, Namibia entered the tournament as the seventh seeded side and topped Group B, which also included Ireland and Scotland, through some brilliant performances by tournament’s leading run-getter Raymond van Schoor (323 runs), as well as opener Louis van der Westhuizen who scored one of the two centuries of the tournament while smashing a 51-ball 106 not out against Scotland.

In the league matches, Namibia brushed aside the challenge of Ireland by four runs, Scotland by 49 runs, the USA by 17 runs, Uganda by four runs, Kenya by seven wickets, Oman by 36 runs and Italy by 27 runs.

Namibia’s Christoffel Viljoen and Dawlat Zadran of Afghanistan share sixth position in the leading wicket-takers’ list with 11 wickets apiece.

Shakti Gauchan of Nepal leads the table with 14 wickets from seven matches, followed by Bermuda’s Curt Stovell who has13 wickets. Ireland’s Boyd Rankin, Majid Haq of Scotland and Oman’s Zeeshan Siddiqui have 12 wickets apiece.

Looking ahead to the crunch match, Afghanistan captain Nawroz Mangal said: “This event has been great and we couldn’t have done it without Kabir Khan our coach who has helped us get this far in the event.

“We’ve had some great individual performances that I hope will carry through into tomorrow’s game and hopefully through to Saturday. The likes of Mohammad Shahzad, Karim Sadiq and Dawlat Zadran have been key but the whole team has been performing well and they will hopefully continue those performances tomorrow and beyond.

“Namibia are a good side whom we have faced before both in 2009 at the ICC Cricket World Cup Qualifier and also we played a warm-up fixture against them ahead of this tournament but we are confident we will qualify for Sri Lanka later this year.”

Namibia captain Sarel Burger sounded equally confident ahead of the big match when he said: “We have been fortunate with guys like Louis van Westhuizen and Raymond van Schoor who have stood up well. The fact that we played Ireland and Scotland early on helped us a lot, the Ireland win took a lot of pressure off us.

“It was a long road, the hard work has been done. The team has to stick together for the next few games. Afghanistan is going to be a good battle. They come quite hard early on just like us. The play-offs is a nice concept, it gives all teams a good chance to qualify for the ICC World Twenty20.

“We are confident of our team’s chances. We have had one or two off-days, whereas Afghanistan has been near perfect. Maybe tomorrow could be their off-day.”

Namibia opener van der Westhuizen said: “We’ve achieved what we set out to do and reached the final of the tournament. We played one of our warm-up matches against Afghanistan, so we have seen a bit of them. It is now just down to analysing them and working out our plans on how we can beat them.

“It is always nice to have the opportunity to play a live television match and for people to see us play. Hopefully I can do well and hopefully our team can do well.

“It would be a huge thing for the players and the people back home if we can qualify. We’re looking forward to the challenge of playing Afghanistan.”

Apart from earning the right to play alongside the 10 Full Members in one of the hottest formats of the sport today, the two qualifiers will also receive substantial funding from the ICC to prepare for the Sri Lanka event.

The two qualifying sides will receive preparation participation fees of US $250,000 ahead of the tournament beginning on 18 September 2012.

Thursday’s schedule

Canada v Ireland (1000-1300), Dubai International Cricket Stadium, Dubai Sports City

Netherlands v Scotland (1000-1300), Global Cricket Academy Oval 1, Dubai Sports City

Denmark v Oman (1000-1300), Global Cricket Academy Oval No. 2, Dubai Sports City

Hong Kong v Uganda (1000-1300), Sharjah Cricket Stadium, Sharjah

Afghanistan v Namibia (1400-1700), Dubai International Cricket Stadium, Dubai Sports City

Nepal v Kenya (1400-1700), ICC Global Cricket Academy Oval No. 1, Dubai Sports City

PNG v Italy (1400-1700), ICC Global Cricket Academy Oval No. 1, Dubai Sports City

Bermuda v USA (1400-1700), Sharjah Cricket Stadium, Sharjah

All'Italia tocca Papua

L'Italia arrivata quinta nel proprio girone dovra' affrontare la quarta del girone A: Papua New Guinea.

Mentre Afghanistan e Namibia si affronteranno per l'assegnazione del primo dei due posti disponibili per i prossimi mondiali la partita Italia - PNG servira' a stilare il ranking T20 che comunque. Vedra' sciuramente l'Italia salire ancora di qualche posizione rispetto alla numero 25 che aveva prima di questo torneo.

Purtroppo lo storico degli incontri con PNG e' nettamente sfavorevole all'Italia che non e' mai riuscita a vincere