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Afghanistan, Oman book ticket to India for World T20

by Sandeep Shivam Thursday 23 July 2015

Afghanistan players celebrating the win over Papua New Guinea.

©ICC/Sportsfile

Afghanistan and Oman managed to win their play-off games over Papua New Guinea and Namibia respectively in the 19th over to book a spot in the ICC World Twenty20 tournament to be held in India in 2016.

Afghanistan 128-4 (Mangal 65no) beat
Papua New Guinea 127-6 (Amini 37) by six wickets
Third Qualifying Play-Off, ICC World Twenty20 Qualifier, Dublin

PNG won the toss and opted to bat first. They were in some serious trouble as the top four batsmen were dismissed for single digit scores, leaving them tottering at 37 for four.

Shapoor Zadran (2-9), who bowled a superb spell, dismissed Mahuru Dai (11), while Hamid Hassan (1-36) got rid of Jack Vare (13) restricting PNG to 89 for six in 17 overs.

Charles Amini (37 not out) and Norman Vanua (22 not out) added an unbeaten 38 in the last three overs to take PNG to 127 in the 20 overs.

All the Afghanistan bowlers had dream outings, but Shapoor and Mohammad Nabi (1-12) were the pick of the bunch.

Chasing 128 for a win, Afghanistan lost Mohammad Shahzad (0) off the first delivery.

However, Nawroz Mangal (65 not out) added 56 for the second wicket with Asghar Stanikzai (22) to bring the innings back on track.

Mangal brought up his half-century in 43 deliveries, which included two fours and three sixes.

Despite wickets falling at the other end, Mangal stayed firm taking Afghanistan to a six-wicket win, chasing down the target in 18.2 overs.

Oman 150-5 (Siddiqui 51no) beat
Namibia 148-9 (Baard 62) by five wickets
Fourth Qualifying Play-Off, ICC World Twenty20 Qualifier, Dublin

Oman won the toss and opted to bowl in overcast conditions. Stephan Baard (62) started the innings with a couple of boundaries in the first over but Namibia lost Gerrie Snyman (0) early in the next over.

Raymond van Schoor (34) joined Baard as the duo added 66 runs in 44 deliveries to take Namibia to 74 for two in the ninth over.

Baard brought up his half-century in 41 deliveries, adding a crucial 39 runs with Sarel Burger (19) following which Namibia lost their way completely, managing 148 for nine in the 20 overs.

For Oman, Zeeshan Maqsood (28) and Khawar Ali (18), started the innings well taking them to 41 without loss in five overs.

However, Namibia brought themselves back into the game with three quick wickets, two of them being run outs as Oman reached 67 for three in nine overs.

Just when things were slipping away, Zeeshan Siddiqui notched an unbeaten 51 off just 32 deliveries to take Oman through in 19 overs.