Sport

Scotland stuns Zimbabwe, secures clash with Dutch for World Cup spot

Published

1 year ago

July 5, 2023

Michael Leask helped Scotland to a stunning 31-run victory over Zimbabwe on Tuesday to set up a winner-takes-all clash with the Netherlands for a place at the World Cup.

Sri Lanka became the first of the top two teams in the Super Six table to have qualified for the October-November World Cup in India when they beat Zimbabwe on Sunday.

The hosts could have clinched the second spot with victory over Scotland in Bulawayo, but it was not to be after Scottish quick Chris Sole (3-33) ripped through their top order, eventually bowled out for 203 chasing down 234.

"Our boys have been fantastic. Credit to the way the lads played today," said Scotland captain Richie Berrington.

"The way we came out and showed faith in the second innings and get those early wickets was fantastic."

Berrington added: "It's a quick turnaround to the game against the Netherlands. We'll take a lot of confidence but it's going to be a tough game."

"It's a very difficult pill to swallow," Berrington's Zimbabwe counterpart Craig Ervine acknowledged.

"I thought we did well to restrict them to 230. Unfortunately that first initial spell from Sole really put us on the back foot and just made it hard for us to recover from that position."

Leask top scored with a 34-ball 48 as Scotland racked up 234 runs for eight wickets off their allotted 50 overs.

Coming in at number eight, he combined with Mark Watt (21 not out) for an invaluable eighth-wicket partnership of 46 after the Scots had been left reeling at 170-7.

Three other batsmen - Matthew Cross (38), Brandon McMullen (34) and George Munsey (31) - all got into the 30s, but failed to build on their time at the crease.

Sean Williams grabbed 3-41 off his 10 overs, but failed to shine with the bat as Zimbabwe were quickly reduced to 37/4 in the run chase, under intense pressure from Sole.

Wessly Madhevere hit 40 and the dangerous Sikandar Raza 34 as Zimbabwe fought back.

Ryan Burl gave the host nation most hope, however, hitting 83 off 84 balls.

But Burl crucially fell to the offbreak of Leask, who also had a smart catch off his own bowling to dismiss Richard Ngarava.

The Scotsman ended with 2-33 off six overs and his team left the field knowing that a victory over the Dutch on Thursday would see them headed for India in the Autumn.

For Zimbabwe it was a case of deja vu after a similar failure in 2018 qualifiers when they also needed to win only one of their last two matches to qualify for the World Cup. They lost in both games in both 2018 and 2023.

"It's always nice to put those demons from 2018 behind us and had we gotten over the line today, nobody would have been asking about that but unfortunately, we didn't," said Ervine.

Ariana Television Network will broadcast the matches daily live on TV and Website.

Pre-match shows will start at 11am (Kabul time), while the day’s match will start at 11.30am (Kabul time).

Matches are streamed live on Ariana Television websites simultaneously:

www.arianatelevision.com/live and www.arianatelevision.com/icc-live

CLICK HERE for the broadcast schedule on Ariana Television

Related Topics:#Scotland #WorldCupQualifier Cricket featured Zimbabwe

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Faf du Plessis smashes 75 off 32 balls in Abu Dhabi T10 League

Published

1 day ago

November 23, 2024

Ariana News

South African player Faf du Plessis showcased his batting brilliance by blasting a blistering 75 for Morrisville Samp Army against New York Strikers in the fifth game of the 2024 Abu Dhabi T10 League on Friday.

The 40-year-old reached his fifty in just 22 balls. He remained unbeaten on 75 off 32 balls, hitting five boundaries and six sixes.

Samp Army posted 135-1 in 10 overs, 41 of it coming from Adndries Gous’s bat, and they won the match by 36 runs.

It was one of the four matches played on Friday.

In the other matches, Northern Warriors defeated Delhi Bulls by 7 wickets, with Jonson Charles hitting a fifty.

Team Abu Dhabi thrashed UP Nawabs by 8 wickets after bowling them out for just 51. Mark Adair claimed four wickets. Allah Mohammad Ghazanfar and Zeeshan Naseer picked up two wickets each.

In the last match of the day, Deccan Gladiators beat Ajman Bolts by 20 runs. Gladiators set a target of 138 runs, with Jos Buttler making 60 runs off 22 balls.

In reply, Ajman Bolts fell short on 117 despite captain Mohammad Nabi blasting 43 off 13 balls.

Sport

Ariana News to broadcast IPL auction live and exclusively in Afghanistan

Published

3 days ago

November 21, 2024

Ariana News

The highly anticipated TATA Indian Premier League (IPL) Player Auction will be held in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia on Sunday November 24 and Monday November 25 - an event that will be broadcast to Afghanistan’s cricket fans live and exclusively by Ariana Television and Radio Network (ATN).

The two-day event will be broadcast live and exclusively on Ariana News.

The Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025 mega auction will be held in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, this year. It will be the second time that the IPL mega auction is held outside India after last year's event in Dubai.

This year's mega auction will have 1,574 players registered, of which 574 names will go under the hammer.

Of those 574, a total of 366 players will be Indian and 208 will be foreign cricketers.

A number of big names will be in fray, with as many as 81 players choosing to register themselves under the highest base price bracket of Rs 2 crore ($237,000).

Afghan players

Eighteen Afghan players have been shortlisted for the IPL mega auction.

Two hundred and four (204) slots will be up for grabs with 70 available slots for overseas players.

Full list of Afghan players shortlisted for the auction:

Rahmanullah Gurbaz
Noor Ahmad
Waqar Salamkheil
Allah Mohammad Ghazanfar
Mujeeb-ur-Rahman
Azmatullah Omarzai
Naveen-ul-haq
Zahir Khan Pakten
Sediqullah Atal
Mohammad Nabi
Gulbadin Naib
Fazalhaq Farooqi
Najibullah Zadran
Ibrahim Zadran
Qais Ahmad
Karim Janat
Faridoon Dawoodzai
Nangyal Kharote

For cricket fans across the country, the IPL mega auction broadcast will be on Sunday and Monday from 1.30pm Kabul time on Ariana News. For more information and updated stories be sure to watch this space and follow us on social media.

Sport

Pakistan trumps Afghanistan by only 13 runs in U19 Tri-Series One Day match

Chasing 245 to win, Afghanistan lost their opening batter Mahboob Khan in the first over but recovered as Uzairullah Niazai and Faisal Shinozada secured a 104-run partnership for the second wicket

Published

4 days ago

November 20, 2024

Ariana News

Afghanistan’s U-19 cricket team went down to Pakistan by only 13 runs on Wednesday in their third tri-nation series One Day match at the ICC Academy in Dubai.

This was Pakistan’s first win over Afghanistan in the ongoing tournament after the Afghans defeated their opponents by 100 runs at the same venue on Friday.

Chasing 245 to win, Afghanistan lost their opening batter Mahboob Khan in the first over but recovered as Uzairullah Niazai and Faisal Shinozada secured a 104-run partnership for the second wicket.

After Faisal’s departure, Uzairullah soon followed with Afghanistan at 142 for three in 26.5 overs.

Afghanistan were bundled out for 231 in 46.4 overs.

Earlier, after opting to bat first, Pakistan’s opening pair Shahzaib Khan and Usman Khan provided a solid 129-run stand to Pakistan.

Left-handed Usman, who scored a century against Afghanistan in the previous match, scored an 88-ball 77, which included eight fours.

Shahzaib meanwhile top-scored for the side with 78 off 101 balls, hitting seven boundaries.

For Afghanistan, Abdul Aziz Khan and Khatir Khan Stanikzai bagged three wickets apiece, while Naseer Khan Maroofkhil snapped two wickets.

Pakistan will take on the hosts UAE U19 in their last group match on Friday, 22 November.

In a post on X, the Afghanistan Cricket Board (ACB) said late Wednesday: “Not the result we would have wanted but Afghanistan Future Stars will look to bounce back in the next match.”

Afghanistan will take on UAE U19 on Sunday, November 24.