Men’s ICC World Cup Group2 in Abu Dhabi

Afghanistan vs Namibia

Namibia 98-9, 20 ov, Loftie-Eaton 14 off 16, 1 six, Wiese 26 off 30, 2 fours, Naveen 3-26,, Hassan 3-9, Gulbadin 2-19, Rashid 1-14.

Afghanistan 160-5, 20 ov, Hazratullah 33 off 27, 4 fours, 2 sixes, Shahzad 45 off 33, 3 fours, 2 sixes, Afghan 31 off 23, 3 fours, 1 six, Nabi 32 off 17, 5 fours, 1 six, Loftie-Eaton 2-21, Trumpelmann 2-34, Smit 1-22.

Afghanistan win by 62 runs

Afghanistan win by 62 runs against Namibia to boost their semi-final hopes.

Chasing 161 Namibia limbed only to 98-9 from 20 overs. Opener Craig Williams’ departure in the first over set the tone for the rest of the innings as Namibia failed to gain any momentum. Hamid Hasan took 3-9 and fellow seamer  Naveen-ul-Haq took 3-26.

Afghanistan openers  Hazratullah Zazai and Mohammad Shahzad added 53 for the first wicket before captain Mohammed Nabi 32 from 17 and Adghar Afghan 31 from 23, were bouncing back from their defeat by Pakistan. The victory keeps Afghanistan second in the table behind Pakistan.

India loses second match

 

Men’s ICC World Cup Group2 in Dubai

India vs New Zealand

India 110-7, 20 ov,  Rahul 18 off 16, 3 fours, Rohit 14 off 14, 1 four, 1 six, H Pandya 23 off 24, 1 four, Jadeja 26 off 19, 2 fours, 1 six, Boult 3-20, Southee 1-26, Milne 1-30, Sodhi 2-17.

New Zealand 111-2, 14.3 ov, Guptill 20 off 17, 3 fours, Mitchell 49 off 35, 4 fours, 3 sixes, Williamson 33 off 31, 3 fours, Bumrah 2-19.

New Zealand win by 8 wickets

New Zealand inflicted on India, a second successive defeat after a 10-wicket thrashing against rivals Pakistan in their opening game.

Put to bat, Indians lacked intent and managed only 110-7 only hitting eight fours and two sixes.  Only all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja was unbeaten 26 from 19 balls, as left-armer Trent Boult took 3-20 and spinner Ish Sodhi 2-17 for New Zealand restricted India.

Jasprit Bumrah removed Martin Guptill for 20 but Daryl Mitchell, made 49 off 35 balls, shared 72 with Kane Williamson  who made 33 not out, to ensure a New Zealand victory.

Pakistan lead Group 2 with three wins from three games, followed by Afghanistan who have four points  with New Zealand and Namibia both have two point, India and Scotland yet to socre.

 India will  need to win all three remaining matches, against Afghanistan on Wednesday, Scotland on Friday and Namibia on November 8 and also need to turn around a mega net run-rate swing alongside other results going their way to progress.

Star studded India posted below-par score against Pakistan and New Zealand.

India were 40-3  halfway through the eight over, with Ishan Kishan caught on the square-leg boundary, KL Rahul caught pulling and Rohit Sharma flat-batted to long-on for 14 all irresponsible  shots, which left Kohli and Pandya curbing their natural aggressive instinct as 71 balls passed without boundary through middle overs, which in T20 is critical.

Indians showed no urgency to score and they need to reassess that approach, and go really big and hard in the first six overs. New Zealand bowled superbly, but India had to blame themselves, with their run rate also taking a beating, semi-final spot looks unlikely.