Canada U19s to face South Africa (Hosts), Afghanistan and UAE in 2020 U19 CWC Update:
Hong Kong 150/7 (20 overs) beat Canada 118/9 (20 ov) by 32 runs
[Toronto, 24 October 2019] The Netherlands, secure in the top 13 division of ODI cricket on the road to India for the 2023 Mens World Cup, decided to bat first against World Cup Challenge League Division A Papua New Guinea in Group A of the Men’s T20 World Cup Qualifier. The Netherlands stumbled but did rally from 74/7 to 126/7 by the end of the 20 overs. Papua New Guinea broke the victory tape with 127/5 from 19 overs and displaced the Netherlands (now Won 3, Lost 1) on Net Run Rate at the top of Group A.
Scotland (2/2) play Bermuda (0/4) in a Group A night game in Dubai later today
UAE won the toss will have been excited as Nigeria stumbled from 2 runs for no wicket through 2/2 and 22/3 (7.2 overs) but, credit to the Nigerians who rallied to 111/3 from 20 overs in Group B, Canada’s group. UAE went on to win by 5 wickets, ending on 112/5 from 19 overs. Opening bat Zawad Farid lead the way with 55 runs. Zawad Farid’s previous scores in T20I cricket were 1 and 6 against the Netherlands in August 2019.
The UAE (Won 3, Lost 2) moved, at least temporarily, into third place in Group B, with this victory against. UAE now has one just game remaining in Group B: under the lights in Abu Dhabi on Sunday against Canada on Sunday night.
A win for Canada against Hong Kong would mean Canada would improve to 4 wins from 4 matches, but you cannot count your wins before they happen. Remember, Canada was 40/0 after 4 overs chasing 90 to win from 16 overs in the first of two matches against Bermuda during the ICC Americas T20 Regional Final in August 2019. There was no more play, so a No Result. Unlikely that Canada would have lost if it had been possible to play the 5th over, after which a match can have a Duckworth-Lewis System method (DLS) result in a T20 match.
Canada v Hong Kong Underway in Abu Dhabi
Hong Kong are batting first against Canada. Probably panic for some followers of Canadian cricket with Hong Kong 16 for no wicket after 2 overs. Then came a “relief to joy phase” for some such followers as Hong Kong wobbled in the twenties: 20/1 (2.1) relief; 24/2 (3.2) more relief; 24/3… joy or some joy, but what if the fourth wicket pair follow or exceed the earlier efforts of Nigeria’s Chimezie Onwuzulike 46* (42 balls) and Sesan Adedji 51* (48 balls)?
Update: Hong Kong 150/7 (20 overs) v Canada at the Innings Break in Abu Dhabi.
Canada Under-19s in the 2020 Under-19 Cricket World Cup
During the Canada v Hong Kong match came news of the groupings for the ICC Mens Under-19
Cricket World Cup in South Africa.
Canada U19s open in Group D with a game against the UAE on Saturday, 18 January 2020 in Bloemfontein, South Africa. Then comes a game against the tournament hosts, South Africa in Potchefstroom on January 22nd with the third group game against Afghanistan being played on January 24, also in Potchesfstroom.
The three other 2020 ICC U19 Cricket World Cup groups comprise:
Group A: India, New Zealand, Sri Lanka and Japan. Group B: Australia, England, West Indies and Nigeria. Group C: Pakistan, Bangladesh, Zimbabwe and Scotland.
Eddie Norfolk