Dipendra Singh Airee and teenage leg-spinner Sandeep Lamichhane both took four wickets, before Airee hit an unbeaten 50 to ensure that Nepal would become an ODI team until at least 2022, with Papua New Guinea losing their elite status.
Nepal were in the World Cricket League Division Five as recently as 2010, while their cricket association has been suspended by the ICC since 2016, although the ban doesn’t affect on-field matters. The other play-off game saw Hong Kong lose their ODI place after a defeat by the Netherlands.
Meanwhile, Afghanistan captain Rashid Khan praised “world class” Mujeeb ur Rahman after the teenage leg spinner took three wickets in yesterday’s three-wicket win over West Indies which kept their hopes of reaching the 2019 World Cup alive. “He is a world class spinner and he knows his job,” said Rashid. “He’s capable of bowling against any batsman. We’re just trying to give him more confidence.”
Afghanistan bowled 39 overs of spin against West Indies, severely restricting their scoring options on a helpful surface. No West Indies batsman reached fifty, while aside from Mujeeb, Afghanistan’s other spinners — including Rashid — struck at regular intervals.
“Rashid Khan and Mujeeb, they are top world class spinners,” agreed West Indies captain Jason Holder. “There’s mystery, and they’ve caused problems around the world.”
Facing a must-win scenario in all of their Super Six games, having lost their first three group games and scraped through to the Super Sixes by virtue of having a better net run rate than Hong Kong and Nepal, Afghanistan appeared to have set up an easy chase when they kept West Indies to 197 for 8 in their 50 overs. Two-time champions West Indies opted to bat first but they were soon in trouble when veteran batsman Chris Gayle misread a googly from Mujeeb, who is still two weeks shy of his 17th birthday.
Mujeeb added the wickets of top-scorer Shai Hope for 43 and Holder to finish with 3-33. Mujeeb was ably backed up by the rest of Afghanistan’s spin attack, with Mohammed Nabi, Sharafuddin Ashraf and Rashid sharing four wickets.
For West Indies, aside from Hope’s contribution, veteran top order batsman Marlon Samuels added 36, while Holder made 28 at better than a run a ball. Holder himself made some early inroads to dent Afghanistan’s chase, removing opener Mohammed Shahzad for eight, and then striking later in the innings to finish with 3-39.
He passed 100 ODI wickets for West Indies in the process. West Indies reduced Afghanistan to 168 for 6, and then 190 for 7 as what should have been a simple chase became a tense battle. But Rashid and Sharafuddin both struck boundaries to see Afghanistan home in the 48th over.
In Bulawayo, Scotland raced to an imposing 322 for 6 against United Arab Emirates thanks to opener Matthew Cross’ second ODI century. Cross shared in a 161-run stand for the second wicket with Calum Macleod, who registered 78, as Scotland weathered the pressure from UAE’s spin attack.
“It got a little bit sticky for a little while, but after that we managed to accelerate and put 320 up,” explained Cross, who was named man of the match for his 114.
Scotland then imparted some pressure of their own, reducing UAE to 117 for 6 inside 20 overs. UAE’s lower middle order showed some fight, however, with left hander Mohammed Usman racing to a career best 80 and no. 8 Ahmed Raza reaching his first ODI fifty.
Usman and Raza shared in a 105-run seventh wicket stand, and after they fell the tail quickly folded, with Scotland wrapping up their win by bowling UAE out in the 48th over. Their victory means that Scotland now move to the top of the Super Six points table, with five, ahead of their match against Ireland at Harare Sports Club on March 18.
Super Sixes Brief scores
At Harare: West Indies 197-8 in 50 overs (Mujeeb Ur Rahman 3-33) v Afghanistan 198-7 in 47.4 overs (Rahmat Shah 68; Jason Holder 3-39) — Afghanistan won by three wickets
At Bulawayo: Scotland 322-6 in 50 overs (Matthew Cross 114, Calum MacLeod 78; Rohan Mustafa 4-56) v United Arab Emirates 249 all out in 47.4 overs (Mohammed Usman 80, Ahmed Raza 50; Chris Sole 4-68) — Scotland won by 73 runs
Play-offs At Harare: Papua New Guinea 114 all out in 27.2 overs (Dipendra Singh Airee 4-14, Sandeep Lamichhane 4-29) v Nepal 115-4 in 23 overs (Dipendra Singh Airee 50 not out)
— Nepal won by six wickets
Note — Nepal gained ODI status until 2022, Papua New Guinea lost ODI status as a result of this match
At Kwekwe: Netherlands 174 all out in 48.2 overs (Max O’Dowd 62; Nadeem Ahmed 3-20) v Hong Kong 130 all out in 43 overs (Babar Hayat 52; Roelof van der Merwe 4-18)
— Netherlands won by 44 runs
Note — Hong Kong lost ODI status as a result of this match