How good is your memory ? - do you remember that 25th Match of ICC World Cup played at Pietermaritzburg, on Feb 23 2003- India won by 181 runs !
Today at Sharjah I saw Ackermann smash Lahiru Kumara for a 6 and thought it would a good match .. .. but Netherland’s innings lasted just 10 overs and Lahiru conceded just 7 runs (that 6 included).
Young Sri Lankan duo of Wanindu Hasaranga and Maheesh Theekshana spun their web around Netherlands to bundle them out for a paltry 44 in their last first round game of the T20 World Cup – meantime, Namibia became the fourth and final team to qualify for the Super 12 stage from Round 1 of the ICC T20 World Cup with victory over Ireland in Sharjah. Namibia beat Ireland by eight wickets in the winner-takes-all clash in Group A to seal a spot in the Super 12 stage at the ICC Men's T20 World Cup 2021. Set 126 to win, the African nation took their time in the chase before upping the scoring rate dramatically late on thanks to another fast-paced knock from all-rounder David Wiese and a brilliant half-century from skipper Gerhard Erasmus. The win sees Namibia qualify ahead of Ireland from Group A, moving into Group 2 alongside India, Pakistan, New Zealand, Afghanistan and Scotland.
The ICC Men's T20 World Cup is run by cricket's governing body, the International Cricket Council (ICC), the tournament currently consists of 16 teams, comprising the top ten teams from the rankings at the given deadline and six other teams chosen through the T20 World Cup Qualifier. The 2021 ICC Men's T20 World Cup is the seventh ICC Men's T20 World Cup tournament, with the matches taking place in the United Arab Emirates and Oman from 17 October to 14 November 2021. West Indies are the defending champions.
The tournament could not be held in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. In August 2020, the ICC confirmed that India would host the 2021 tournament as planned, with Australia being named as the host for the succeeding 2022 tournament. However, in June 2021, the ICC announced that the tournament had been moved to the United Arab Emirates due to growing concerns over the pandemic situation in India, and a possible third wave.
As of 31 December 2018, the top nine ranked ICC Full Members, alongside hosts India, qualified directly for the 2021 tournament. Of those ten teams, the top eight ranked sides qualified for the Super 12s stage of the tournament. Sri Lanka and Bangladesh did not qualify for the Super 12s, and were in the group stage of the competition. They were joined by the six teams who had qualified for the tournament via the 2019 ICC T20 World Cup Qualifier: Papua New Guinea were the first team to secure their position via the Qualifier, after they won Group A of the tournament, finishing above the Netherlands on net run rate. ] It was the first time that Papua New Guinea had qualified for a World Cup in any format
Now from the Group stage, Bangladesh, Namibia, Scotland & Sri Lanka have marched on to 12. Gerhard Erasmus' anchoring half-century and David Wiese's whirlwind 28* off 14 balls steered Namibia into the Super 12s of the 2021 T20 World Cup. This eight-wicket win over Ireland also meant Namibia have booked their spot in next year's edition as well, which will be played in Australia.
Now : Australia, England, South Africa, West Indies, Srilanka, Bangladesh are in one group while – India, New Zealand, Afganisthan, Pakistan, Scotland, Namibia are in the other.
If you still remember the Q at the start India scored 311/2 in 50 overs against Namibia – after Virender Sehwag was out at 24 – Sachin Tendulkar 152 and Sourav Ganguly 112* forged a big partnership .. .. Yuvraj who remained unbeaten on 7 had figures of 4.3-2-6-4 !
So ‘maukha, maukha’ again for Men in Blue .. ..
With regards – S. Sampathkumar22nd Oct 2021.
