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Hong Kong, Netherlands manage to qualify for ICC World Twenty20 2016

by Sandeep Shivam Tuesday 21 July 2015

Netherlands players celebrating their victory over Namibia in the second Qualifying play-off in Dublin.

©ICC/Sportsfile

Hong Kong and Netherlands managed to sneak past Afghanistan and Namibia respectively in the play-offs of the ICC World Twenty20 Qualifier to make it to the main tournament to be held in India.

Hong Kong 162-5 (Atkinson 47) beat
Afghanistan 161-7 (Mangal 53) by five wickets
First Qualifying play-off, Dublin

Having won the toss, Afghanistan opted to bat first.

Mohammad Shahzad (20) got the team off to a quickfire start with his cameo but the innings revolved around Nawroz Mangal (53) who compiled a sensible half-century.

Mangal put on a valuable 58-run second wicket partnership with Asghar Stanikzai (29) to set the platform for Afghanistan.

Samiullah Shenwari (21) also weighed in with a brief cameo before Hong Kong struck back with some timely strikes from their bowlers led by Haseeb Amjad (3-28).

Mohammad Nabi (13) and Shafiqullah (15) ensured that Afghanistan eventually ended with a decent total of 161 for seven from their 20 overs.

In pursuit of the tricky target, Hong Kong were guided by Jamie Atkinson (47) and Mark Chapman (40) - both of whom played contrasting knocks to put their team on course in the chase.

Shapoor Zadran (2-31) was the pick of the Afghanistan bowlers while his team’s fielding also raised their standards to put Hong Kong under pressure in the end overs.

With 16 needed off the final over, Babar Hayat (20 not out) slammed Nabi (1-42) for a six and a boundary followed by a three before sealing the chase off the final ball with a brace to guide Hong Kong home.

Mangal was awarded man-of-the-match for his half-century despite finishing on the losing side.

Netherlands 137-6 (Myburgh 31) beat
Namibia 135-6 (Williams 43) by four wickets
Second Qualifying play-off, Dublin

Netherlands edged past Namibia in the second play-off, beating them by four wickets in a low scoring thriller in Dublin.

After opting to bat first, Namibia got off to a worst possible start, losing both their openers in the first two overs for five runs.

However, Craig Williams (43) played a steady 32-ball knock to bring the Namibian innings on track.

Netherlands rode their way back picking three quick wickets including that of Williams to restrict Namibia to 83 for five in the 15th over.

A 23-ball cameo from the skipper Nicolaas Scholtz (37) ensured Namibia reached 135 for six in the 20 overs.

Chasing a moderate total of 136, Netherlands lost Wesley Barresi in the first ball of the innings, caught behind.

Stephan Myburgh (31) threw caution to wind in his 18-ball knock adding 45 with Ben Cooper (18) in just 29 deliveries.

Bernard Scholtz (3-15) gave Namibia a glimmer of hope striking at regular intervals but Roelof van der Merwe (18) and Max O'Dowd (19 not out) played sensibly to bring down the target to just three in the final over.

Even though van der Merwe perished, Mudassar Bukhari (4 not out) hit the next delivery to a boundary, taking Netherlands home with four wickets and four balls to spare.

Bernard was awarded man of the match despite his team failed to cross the line.

© Cricket World 2015