Game 1 - Afghanistan 183/5 v 58 all out Uganda - Afghanistan WIN
I suggested, in my preview, that the 3 association teams in this group may provide some close fought matches. This was not one of such. I suggested Afghanistan may struggle. They did not in this match!
An Afhanistan opening stand of 154 in 14.3 overs is the kind of framework that should have led to the first 200+ innings of the tournament but losing both set batsmen in 4 balls put the dampers on the batting attack and Uganda limited them to only 29 runs for 5 wickets in the last 5.3 overs. From scoring at 1.77 per ball they tumbled to scoring at 0.87.
This will be a worry for Afghanistan as the tournament moves forward. In terms of this match, though, it proved to be no issue at all as Uganda were bundled out for their 58 runs in 16 overs with only two players getting into double figures and, in matching Sril Lanka's tally of four players out for a duck, though three of those being first ball ducks must be some kind of record.
Game 2 Scotland 90/0 v 0/0 England - Match Abandoned
Scottish sports teams have a reputation for finding unusual ways to not capitalise on winning positions. This time they really cant be blamed.
The start of the game was delayed by rain and there was always plenty of dark cloud around to suggest more would come. And come it did in the seventh over. But by this time Scotland were off to a good start and were 51-0. The only real point of worry was when Wood had Munsey edge a bouncer high into the air to be safely caught in Jod Buttler's gloves.
England's delight was short lived as a review showed Wood to be well infront of the crease when bowling the ball.
Often when a team has flow and there is a break the balance shifts but, when play eventually resumed in what would now be a ten over per side match, Scotland's openers continued with calm assuredness and, in the 22 overs remaining to them, they added a further thirty-nine runs to reach 90 runs.
The Duckworth Lewis Stern method is a formula used in rain affected limited overs matches to assess what a par score should be for a team batting second, where the first team already has runs. The calculation was that England would require 109 from 10 overs.
Further rain, and reaching the limits placed for the conclusion of the game, meant the match was abandoned before Scotland's bowlers could test England's mettle.
One highlight to try and see is a towering six hit by by Chris Jordan which soared up over the rop of the stand, where it crashed into one of the solar panels on the roof. A mighty blow!
Game 3 - Nepal 106 all out v 109/4 Netherlands - Netherlands WIN
With Netherlands bowling this looked like a match where the better Associate team were teaching the less experienced team a lesson. Wickets fell at regular intervals, a top score of 35 was joined by only three other players getting double figures, but none of them reaching 20.
The chase proved to be a little tougher than Netherlands anticipated, and the blank statistics show. Nepal bowled tight and limited boundary scoring opportunites - the teams scored ten 4's each, and Nepal hit three 6's to Netherland's one. Indeed, had a couple of tricky catches been held then the build up of pressure could have swung things desicively.
But Netherland's took the easy ones and twos, the infrequent four, and in the nineteenth over crossed the winning line.
| Game | 4's | 6's | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| Afghanistan v Uganda | 17 | 6 | 23 |
| Scotland v England | 8 | 4 | 12 |
| Nepal v Netherlands | 20 | 4 | 24 |
| Tournament | 126 | 52 | 178 |
Check back tomorrow for updated boundary totals and a review of the only game of the day India v Ireland. It'll be interesting to see what the New York pitch is like, and whether the total for 6's may see a boost.
text by stuartcturnbull. graphic by Mir Rammez Raja & edited by stuartcturnbull via postermywall