T20 World Cup Qualifier | Netherlands, Papua New Guinea book places in Qualifier Final

11/02/2019

The Netherlands and Papua New Guinea have reached the Final of the ICC World T20 Qualifier by overcoming Ireland and Namibia respectively. Dutch skipper Ryan Ten Doeschate starred as the Dutch beat Ireland by 21 runs, while the Papua New Guinea bowlers helped their team to beat Namibia by 12 runs.

Netherlands vs Ireland

Ireland put the Dutch into bat and had them right on the ropes at 27/2 at the end of the powerplay, thanks to some tight bowling from Boyd Rankin. Rankin was rewarded for his tight bowling as he removed skipper Pieter Seelaar. The Netherlands were in a spot of bother when they lost a set Ben Cooper after a well-made 35-ball 37. But due to an explosive partnership from the Dutch pairing of Ryan Ten Doeschate (43 off 25 balls) and Roelof van der Merwe(25 off 16 balls), the Dutch posted a competitive total of 158 in their 20 overs.

A target of 159 on a sluggish wicket was not going to be easy for the Irish. they needed a good start from their openers. Openers Kevin O'Brien and Paul Stirling put on an opening stand of 52 to give the Irish the required good start. But van der Merwe struck twice to remove the openers in quick succession. The Irish also lost Andrew Balbirnie and Gareth Delany off consecutive balls to reduce Ireland to 84-4. Wickets began to tumble quickly as skipper Pieter Seelaar was the pick of the bowlers with figures of 3 for 17 from his four overs. A last-ditch cameo from George Dockrell (25 off 12 balls) was not enough as the Dutch beat Ireland by 21 runs and entered the Qualifier Final.

Papua New Guinea vs Namibia

In the second semifinal, PNG batted first against Namibia. PNG were quickly reduced to 31-3 as Ben Shikongo, Christi Viljoen and JJ Smit all struck with the ball. A half-century stand between Charles Amini and Sese Bau gave some stability to the PNG innings. Norman Vanua's late cameo of 20 helped PNG reach a score of 130 in their 20 overs. Sese Bau top-scored for PNG with an unbeaten 40.

In reply, Namibia needed a good start to break the back of the chase. Niko Davin was removed early for a duck by Jason Kila. Stephan Baard and JP Kotze strung together a partnership to try and steer the Namibians to victory, however, all the PNG bowlers chipped in with wickets at regular intervals. Norman Vanua was fantastic with the ball again with figures of 2 for 16 off his four overs. Late hits from JJ Smit were not enough as Namibia fell short by 12 runs, propelling PNG to the Qualifier Final.

Ireland will face Namibia in the Third Place Play-off, while the Dutch will face Papua New Guinea in the Qualifier Final.