New Delhi: The Netherlands and Zimbabwe sealed their places in the ICC T20 World Cup after defeating the US and Papua New Guinea respectively in their semi-finals of the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup Qualifier B. The Netherlands defeated the United States by seven wickets in the semi-finals. He bundled out America for 138 runs in 19.4 overs. Zimbabwe beat Papua New Guinea by 27 runs. Tournament hosts Zimbabwe’s decision to bat first proved to be beneficial. The experienced pair of Regis Chakabwa and captain Craig Irvine got off to a good start.
Chakabwa, adopting an aggressive attitude, hit the first four of the match in the very first over, after which he hit three consecutive fours on Sema Kamiwa. After an over, he hit a six, which made him look more dangerous. But his aggressive innings of 30 runs in 19 balls were ended by Sesse Bau. Even the fall of wickets did not stop Zimbabwe’s pace of runs. Irvine and Wesley Madhavere hit boundaries at frequent intervals. At the end of the 10th over, Zimbabwe’s score was 90 runs for one wicket.
The hosts lost the wickets of Irwin (38) and Madhavere (42 off 29 balls) in the next five overs. The middle order collected useful runs to help the team make a strong score of 199 for five in 20 overs. Zimbabwe took Papua New Guinea’s first wicket off the very first ball. Then he lost two consecutive wickets, and his score in the powerplay was 45 runs for three wickets. The run rate was increasing, and Tony Ura started getting aggressive with the batting and hit two consecutive sixes in the over of Sikandar Raja. Due to the dismissal of Ura, the team’s score was 139 runs for five wickets. In 20 overs, the team could score only 172 runs for eight wickets.
16 teams will participate in T20 World Cup
The teams of Australia, New Zealand, Pakistan, England, South Africa, India, Bangladesh, and South Africa have qualified for Super 12. At the same time, there are teams from West Indies, Sri Lanka, Zimbabwe, Scotland, Namibia, United Arab Emirates, Ireland, and the Netherlands in round one. The qualifying matches will be held before the main round in the T20 World Cup. In this, 8 teams in round one will be divided into 2 groups. The top 2 of each group will reach the main round. In this way, there will be a clash between a total of 12 teams in the main round.
