ICC T20 WORLD CUP QUALIFIER 2012 PREVIEW: GROUP A Group A may look like the easier of the two pools in the World Twenty20 qualifying tournament which begins in the United Arab Emirates next week, but there will nevertheless be plenty of banana skins for the more fancied teams as they battle their way towards one of the two available places in the main event in Sri Lanka in September. Top seeds and defending champions Afghanistan will start as favourites, but their chances will be adversely affected should Hamid Hassan fail to recover in time from the injury he sustained playing for the ICC Associates and Affiliates XI against England in Dubai in January. The Afghans’ key pace bowler since their emergence on the world scene in 2009, Hamid underlined his value in the shortest form of the game by conceding just 2.13 an over in the ACC championship last year, an event in which his team took part – and duly won – even though they were automatic qualifiers for this global tournament. Their leading wicket-taker in that competition was off-spinning allrounder Mohammad Nabi, and he and his fellow-spinners, Samiullah Shenwari and Karim Sadiq, are likely to be central to their campaign in a tournament where the contenders’ spin department seems certain to play a vital role. Afghanistan also have a batting line-up which seems ideally suited to Twenty20, with Shabir Noori, skipper Nowroz Mangal, wicketkeeper Mohammad Shahzad, Nabi and Karim all capable of scoring at well over a run a ball. The strongest challenge may come from the Netherlands, who beat the Afghans two years ago but were denied a qualification place by their earlier defeat at the hands of hosts the UAE. The Emiratis have missed out on this tournament, but consistency has been a problem for the Dutch in the past, and they will need to put in a steady performance throughout the group phase if they are to make sure of a double chance of qualifying. They built up valuable experience in this year’s Calypso Cup in the Caribbean, and that squad will be reinforced by the return of key batsman Tom Cooper, whose own T20 credentials include two Champions‘ League campaigns with South Australia. Cooper joins a batting line-up which starts with Michael Swart and the potentially-destructive left-hander Stephan Myburgh, and despite the absence of Ryan ten Doeschate the Dutch have plenty of heavy hitters with Alexei Kervezee, Wesley Barresi, captain Peter Borren and Mudassar Bukhari to follow. The exciting prospect Timm van der Gugten demonstrated on his international debut in the West Indies that he adds a cutting edge to the seam attack alongside Bukhari and Ashan Malik Jamil, and although the Dutch have only one specialist spinner, left-armer Pieter Seelaar, Borren’s off-spin options are Swart, Cooper and Tim Gruijters. The third of the automatic qualifiers for this tournament, Canada, found life tough in the Calypso Cup in January, and it will be a matter of some concern that their attack only managed to claim six wickets in four matches. They do, however, have one of the most explosive batsmen in the competition in the person of Rizwan Cheema, and he will be backed up by the Canadians’ main run-scorers from the Caribbean, Ruvindu Gunasekera and Raza-ur-Rehmn. A potential trump card could be left-arm spinner Zahid Hussain, who had a fairly successful first-class career in Pakistan in the 1990s, and he will join an attack which also features such experienced seamers as Henry Osinde, Harvir Singh Baidwan and Khurram Chauhan. The Canadians will need to raise their game significantly, though, if they are to improve on their performance two years ago, when they disappointingly finished bottom of their group, and withstand the challenge of some of the up-and-coming teams. One of the most exciting of these may prove to be Papua New Guinea, who have been building up an increasingly impressive track record and who qualified undefeated from the East Asia Pacific region. The Barramundis narrowly missed out on reaching the 2009 World Cup qualifier, but they are another side whose strengths are well suited to the Twenty20 game. They will be reinforced, too, by the advent of Kundiawa-born former England international Geraint Jones, a veteran of 77 Twenty20 games for Kent and England. Jones may not displace Jack Vare beind the stumps, but his batting will certainly be a valuable asset. But the Barramundis also have established free-scoring batsmen in Assadollah Vala and Tony Ura, and a testing attack which includes lively pace bowlers Willie Gavera and Mahuru Dai, seamer Joel Tom, and slow left-armer Jason Kila. Another danger side for those with established reputations may be Hong Kong, for whom allrounder Munir Dar will be a player to watch with both bat and ball. His 202 runs in the ACC qualifying tournament came at a rate of 141.25, and he also claimed 11 wickets at an economy rate of just 4.97 an over. A strong spin attack is likely to be Hong Kong’s most effective weapon, while their leading wicket-taker in Kathmandu was seamer Irfan Ahmed, who also scored his runs at an intimidating rate of 166.66. Left-arm spinners Munir and Nadeem Ahmed and 19-year-old leg-spinner Nizakat Khan may well be the key to their side’s fortunes, however, while another teenager, pace bowler Aizaz Khan, could be among the most talented of the younger brigade. Having dropped down from the heights of the High Performance Programme, Bermuda will have a lot to prove, and they will be hoping that their balance of experience and youth will put them on a rising trajectory. David Hemp again leads the side, with seasoned campaigner Lionel Cann still a potential match-winner with the bat. Seamer Stefan Kelly is another of the five veterans of the Bermudian 2007 World Squad who will be playing in the UAE, while another of the most experienced of their players is off-spinner Rodney Trott. One of the most exciting prospects, though, is the 17-year-old allrounder Kamau Leverock, nephew of the legendary Dwayne. Although they could only finish fourth in the ACC qualifying tournament, Nepal will be looking to an experienced and effective bowling unit to ensure that they pull off some surprises here. Captain Paras Khadka, Mahaboob Alam, left-armer Basant Regmi and off-spinner Sanjam Regmi have been the core of the Nepali attack for several years, and Khadka and Alam both scored at better than a run a ball in the Asian qualifier. But the batting overall has generally been unable to measure up to the impressive standards set by the bowlers, and they will need to perform more consistently on UAE pitches if the side is to launch a serious challenge for the play-offs. Denmark, who qualified by winning the European Twenty20 title last season, are the eighth side in the group, and they, too, will have to perform at their absolute best if they are to rival their more established opponents. They do, however, have some seasoned and potentially free-scoring batsmen, notably former MCC Young Cricketer Fred Klokker, who has some county experience in England and now plays his club cricket in the Netherlands, and captain Michael Pedersen. The key to their European success was the spin trio of Pedersen, fellow off-spinner Bashir Shah, and legbreak bowler Bobby Chawla, and they will need to take full advantage of the conditions in the Emirates to give the Danes a realistic chance of finishing in the top half the group table.
Posted on: Sat, 17 Aug 2013 02:29:53 +0000
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