THRILLING TIE BETWEEN AFGHANISTAN AND OMAN IN THE FINAL OF THE ACC TWENTY 20 TROPHY
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Circled by thousands of impassioned fans, the ICC and ACC Presidents, the heads of the Bangladesh and Pakistan Boards, Afghanistan and Oman tied the ACC Twenty20 Cup, the match going to the very last ball.
Oman chasing 152 for victory were on 150 with Afghanistan's captain Nowroz Mangal about to bowl the last ball to Oman's Awal Khan. Khan came down the wicket, heaved, missed, Karim Sadiq whipped off the bails and Afghanistan's massed supporters ran on to the field to celebrate. |
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But Ahmed wasn't out, stumped. The umpire hadn't raised his finger. Awal was rooted at the crease, with his partner half-way down the wicket. The ball was still in play umpires as the umpires had not called over or declared the ball dead and the match complete.
In shades of the inaugural 1975 World Cup Final and the 1993 ODI between Pakistan and the West Indies in Georgetown the crowd were on the field with play still technically going on. With Oman's batsmen have completed their run, and no further run or dismissal possible, a tie was declared by the match officials once the players left the field. Afghani supporters had been massing since the end of Friday prayers at the KOC Hubara ground; they came in all vehicles great and small, they brought flags, drums, native clothing and a fervent desire to see their team succeed. |
Whenever anything went Afghanistan's way – a boundary, a wicket, a brilliant piece of fielding – the crowd roared their approval. But for much of the day they were quiet. Beaten into silence by Oman's cricketers who wrestled for supremacy with Afghanistan throughout the match. |
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Afghanistan got off to a great start thanks to Mangal and Karim Sadiq, putting up 50 in the 7th over but three wickets fell in four deliveries and thoughts of 160 and above had to be tempered with the need to bat out the overs. Some enterprising hitting by Raees Ahmadzai towards the end of the innings saw Afghanistan finish on 151 for 9.
And they took an Omani wicket first ball. And another three balls later. The dangerous Hemin Desai and Zeeshan Ahmed both gone without scoring. Nilesh Parmar and Adnan Ilyas then rebuilt superbly, stealing singles, rotating the strike, striking boundaries whenever possible. Quality cricket. Oman were always up with the rate but never ahead of it.
The hundred partnership, the first of the tournament, came up in the 14th over. The crowd, 99.9% Afghani, the others neutral, was very quiet |
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| Then Ilyas fell for 52, Hemal Mehta went soon after to a pressure catch by Mangal and Parma was run out for 66. The match was going down to the wire. Farhan Khan – Oman's man for any crisis – came in to bat in the 19th over with 12 wanted. He hit his second ball for a massive six. |
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. Five were needed off the last over by Oman for what would have been a classic run-chase victory. Awal Khan's run out going for a second run off the first ball, a brilliant throw by Shahpour Zadran from the deep. Four runs now wanted. Next ball, Farhan Khan's caught a couple of yards in from the boundary. Another wicket falls next ball. Oman are snatching defeat from the jaws of victory. The crowd are more than banging their drums, it sounds like they're jumping on them. Four runs still wanted, three balls left. Dot ball from the off-spinner Mangal. Two leg byes are scrambled; Oman are on 150 needing just two to win. And then, with the crowd gathered on the edge of the boundary, comes in Afghanistan's captain Nowroz Mangal to bowl the last ball….
"I don't know whether to be happy or sad," said Afghanistan's coach Taj Malik. "We could have won, we could have lost. We should have won!"
A bowl-out deemed impossible with the crowd still gathered on the pitch and the square in a little disrepair, match officials declared the match a tie and the trophy to be shared between the two teams.
(Thanks for the report of the final match of www.asiancricket.org)
ACC Twenty20 Final
MATCH TIED
Afghanistan v Oman at KOC Hubara
Afghanistan won the toss and chose to bat
Afghanistan: 151 for 9 (T. Hussain 3-31, Z. Ahmed 3-30)
Oman: 151 for 7 (A. Ilyas 52, N. Parmar 66)[Full Scorecard] |
Kuwait won the match by 3 runs |
| Hosts Kuwait celebrated a third place win over UAE by just three runs as it all came down to the very last over of the game. UAE's Ahmad Raza had one ball and four runs to win but luck fell to the hosts as Raza was dismissed on the very final ball of the game.On what was a surprisingly chilly morning at the KOC Unity Ground, the match for third and fourth place between hosts Kuwait and the UAE was played a half hour earlier than usual, at 08:30 am. |
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Kuwait decided to bat in what was initially a very subdued atmosphere from both teams, performance-wise. Khalid Butt (22) injected some life into the game as his score comprised of five boundaries. Butt's attempt to pull a delivery in the fifth over went horribly wrong when there was an inside edge which saw the ball played onto his stumps.
Over the span of the next two overs Kuwait's failure to score big and the loss of two more wickets saw them at 51-3 after eight overs.
With the runs slowly trickling in, a solid performance from pinch-hitting Azmatullah Mohammad (5) was needed but it never came and when he did go for the boundary he was dismissed by Ahmed Raza (1-12). It came down to Captain Yasin Mughal (24*) and Hisham Mirza (23), two batsmen very capable of turning any game on its head. Although Mirza had his stumps knocked over while hitting out in the eighteenth, Mohammad Rashid (19) stepped in to smash 18 runs in last over with two fours and one six to help his team finish at 126-7 after the 20 overs.
Kuwait had started fairly well dismissing openers Arshad Ali (11) and Amjad Javed (2) within the first three overs of the innings. Both the wickets were taken by Khalid Butt (2-10). The third wicket needed to be taken quickly before the two batsmen, Saqib Ali (53) and Prashant Braggs (14), settled. Both Ali and Braggs had proven in their previous matches that once they picked up speed, they were very hard to stop. |
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Yaseen Mughal of Kuwait getting the Man of the Match Award |
The following seven overs the Kuwaiti bowlers appeared helpless as the pair put on a solid 42-run partnership. With the boundaries not coming as often as the batsmen wanted, they made up for it with their quick running. Braggs' impatience and need to go for big shots eventually led to his dismissal. Braggs was left stranded as wicket-keeper Jagath Roshantha scooped the bails off and soon UAE were at 70-4 after 13 overs needing eight runs an over to win.
Kuwait were soon facing the full wrath of Saqib Ali as the Captain brought to light why he was so dangerous with the bat. A masterful innings saw him lead the team to 108-5 after 18 overs, clobbering four huge sixes.
The following over brought 10 runs for UAE and with 8 runs needed from the final over, Kuwaiti Captain Yasin Mughal (4-21) pulled out a stunning bowling performance. Mughal's second, fourth and last ball yielded wickets and sent the crowd wild. Had Ahmad Raza's (2) shot been a little higher, Hisham Mirza wouldn't have gotten to the ball and UAE would've won.
UAE may have felt they were hard done for the work they put in throughout the game but such is Twenty20 cricket. Kuwait felt sweet revenge after their group stage encounter with UAE saw them lose by three runs. This time around, it was UAE who were on the losing end.
An amazing three-wicket haul in the final over was enough for Yasin Mughal to collect the Man of the Match award.
3rd and 4th Playoff
Kuwait won the match by 3 runs
Kuwait v UAE : Toss(Kuwait): Kuwait126/7 in 20 overs | Yaseen 24, Hisham 23, Shadeeb 2/35, Ahmed 1/12
UAE :123/8 in 20 overs : Saqib 53, Prashant 14: Yaseen 4/21, Khalid 2/10
Man of the Match Yaseen Mughal of Kuwait [Full Scorecard] |
DAY- 3 (29th October 2007) Match Reports |
HOSTS HOPE FOR A LUCKY BREAK AFTER WIN |
Kuwait ensured they had that 'outside chance' of qualifying for the semi-finals after they beat Singapore by 16 runs, thanks to a stellar performance from Azmatullah Mohammad.
After losing their first two games, Kuwait badly needed a win against Singapore.  [Full Scorecard] |
Hong Kong won their first game of the tournament |
Hong Kong won their first game of the tournament, after the heartbreak of losing to Singapore by one run, against Saudi Arabia beating them by 17 runs at the KEC Ground in Kuwait.
Choosing to bat, Hong Kong wasted no time in getting the runs when the very first ball saw Captain Tabarak Dar (8) swing wildly at the delivery. [Full Scorecard] |
Oman Upset Afghanistan in ACC Twenty20 Cricket |
The thrills of twenty 20 cricket blended with the traditional glorious uncertainties at Ahmadi on Monday afternoon at the Unity Oval when a plucky Omani outfit outshone one of the tournament favourites Afghanistan by a relatively massive margin of 64 runs.
Facing a target of 164 the dashers from Afghanistan fumbled, floundered and then folded for 99. [Full Scorecard] |
Malaysia 101 all out in 20 ov. lost to Qatar 102 for 2 in 15.2 ov. |
In the morning also at the Unity Oval at Ahmadi Malaysia suffered their third defeat in as many games losing to Qatar who registered their second win. Responding to Malaysia’s 101 all out Qatar reached their target with ease in 15.2 overs. [Full Scorecard] |
DAY- 2 (28th October 2007) Match Reports |
Oman went on to defeat Malaysia by a mere eight runs. |
In their first game of the tournament, Oman went on to defeat Malaysia by a mere eight runs.
Oman chose to bat but it seemed Malaysia's pace attack at the start of the game was too much for the Oman batsmen to handle. A wicket in the second delivery of the game and another in the 3 rd over had Oman at a score of just 16-2 after 4 overs. [Full Scorecard] |
Qatar won their first game of the ACC Twenty20 Cup |
Qatar won their first game of the ACC Twenty20 Cup when they beat Nepal in what was a spectacular game of Twenty20 cricket. Right up to the 18 th over, Nepal had the win within sight but let it all slip in just one over handing Qatar the win. [Full Scorecard] |
Kuwait 149 for 8 in 20 overs lost to Saudi Arabia
Saudi Arabia 150 for 5 in 19.5 overs. |
Hosts Kuwait lost their second game in as many days in the afternoon at the Hubara Oval in an exciting match to neighbours Saudi Arabia. Batting first, Kuwait managed just 149 runs in their allotted 20 overs. None of their batsmen could negotiate the spin bowling of Fahd Sulaiman, Khawar Sohail & Avais Ahmed and only Azmattullah with a skillful 44 runs stood amongst the ruins.
Avais Ahmed was the pick of the Saudi bowlers, bagging 3 for 19 in his 4 overs... [Full Scorecard] |
Singapore 167 for 8 in 20 overs lost to UAE 172 for 2 in 18 overs. |
In a second round match played at the Hubara Oval of the Ahmadi Cricket Grounds in the morning UAE breezed through to their second win beating Singapore. The islanders recovered to put up 167 in their allotted 20 overs after struggling at 40 for 4. Skipper Chaminda Ruwan top scored with 70 runs while the young and talented Anish Param notched up an enterprising 55. Javed Ismail, Wasim Bari and Ahmed Raza took two wickets each for UAE. [Full Scorecard] |
DAY- 1 (27th October 2007) Match Reports |
Singapore 185 for 3 in 20 ov.s beat Hong Kong by 1 run
Hong Kong184 for 6 in 20 overs |
In the nail biter of the day Singapore got home by the skin of their teeth squeaking home by the narrowest possible margin. They might have had a good day with the bat when Chaminda Ruwan (88 in 51 8x4s 3x6s) and Budhika Mendis (66 off 51 5x4s 2x6s) put on 150 for third wicket. [Full Scorecard] |
Nepal 121 for 9 in 20 overs beat Malaysia 100 all out in 18.5 overs |
The Nepal Malaysia match played at the Hubara grounds at KOC was a closely fought one as Malaysia bowled exceptionally well to restrict Nepal to 121 runs in 20 overs but the experienced & fighting Nepal lads bowled their hearts out to bundle Malaysia for a paltry 100 runs to win the match. [Full Scorecard]. |
Qatar 153 for 9 wickets in 20 overs lost to Afghanistan 157 for 2 wickets in 17.3 overs |
In the most spectacular batting display of the day Afghanistan over ran Qatar in the afternoon game at the Unity Oval by eight wickets.
Qatar chose to bat after winning the toss and made steady progress to their total of 153 with one wicket standing. [Full Scorecads] |
UAE 178 for 4 in 20 ovrs. beat Kuwait 175 for 8 wkts in 20 ov. |
Host Kuwait almost upset the applecart as they lost spiritedly to tournament favorites UAE in the opening match of the first ever ACC T20 tournament being played at Ahmadi & KEC grounds at Doha. Kuwait did everything except winning the match as they lost narrowly by 3 runs in the final over of the match. [Full Scorecard] |
Teams from 10 non test playing countries have already arrived in Kuwait and all the teams were quite jubilant and eager to match each other. KCA had arranged for a team meeting with all Managers & match officials about the general rules and regulations of the tournament and everyone had an opportunity to have a chance to listen to
