BRISBANE: World Cup T20 cricket warm-ups continue with upsets. Pakistan and Bangladesh lost in yesterday’s match. After losing the series against India, the South African team has boosted their confidence by defeating the strong New Zealand.
England beat Pakistan by six wickets. In the match which was reduced to 19 overs, Pakistan managed to score 160 runs for 8 wickets. England crossed the target in the 15th over with the loss of 4 wickets. Shahbad Khan was the captain of Pakistan, and none of the leading players played. Opener Shan(39), Iftikhar Khan(22) and Mohammad Khan(26) have brought out the improved batting. David Willey took 2 wickets for England, while Stokes, Sam Curran, Chris Jordan and Livingstone took one each. Despite losing the openers quickly in the reply batting, a consistent performance by the middle order led England to an easy win. Stokes (36), Livingston (28), Harry Brooks (45 not out) and Sam Curran (33 not out) shone in the English line.
After dismissing the Kiwis for 98 runs, the Proteas scored 100 runs in 12 overs for the loss of just one wicket. Keshav Maharaj who took three wickets destroyed New Zealand. South Africa took hold by dropping opener Guptill, Santner and Brace Well in the middle order. Parnell led skipper Kane Williams and opener Finn Allen to the pavilion. Shamsi also took two wickets in the middle order. Markaram, Jensen and Rabada took a wicket each. In reply, Riley Rosso remained unbeaten on 54 runs. While opener Reza was out for 27, Markaram supported Rossov with 16 runs to lead the team to victory.
In the second match, Afghanistan crushed Bangladesh by 62 runs. The Asian Tigers were able to score 98 runs for 9 wickets in the stipulated 20 overs against the Afghan line which scored 160 runs for 7. For Afghanistan, Ibrahim Zardan scored 46 runs and captain Muhammad Nabi scored 41 runs to strengthen the innings. Taskin Ahmed took three wickets and Hasan Muhammad and Shakhvib Al Hasan took two wickets each for Bangladesh. Chasing the target of 160 runs, no one shone in the batting for Bangladesh. Mozadiq Hussain, who scored 29 runs at the tail end, held back a little. Six people got out without seeing double digits. Farooqi’s three-wicket performance for Afghanistan destroyed Bangladesh. Fareed Ahmed took both wickets.