Toss: Bangladesh won the toss and chose to bat first.
Venue: Al Amerat Cricket Ground, Muscat, Oman
Umpires: Kumar Dharmasena & Richard Kettleborough
What Actually Happened
Winner: Bangladesh won by 84 runs
Scores: Bangladesh 181/7 – PNG 97/10
Player of the Match: Shakib Al Hasan
46 (37) & 4/9
Best Figures
Assad Vala/Kabua Morea – 2/26
Shakib Al Hasan – 4-0-9-4
Most Runs
Mahmudullah – 50 (37)
Kiplin Doriga – 46* (34)
Moments of The Day: Shakib Show All Over Again
Although Liton Das & Shakib Al Hasan gave Bangladesh a decent start, it was Mahmudullah’s impetus that led Bangladesh to a competitive total. From 72 in 10.2 overs to 181 in 20 overs.
This is Shakib’s 2nd player of the match in a row. Shakib is a World Cup man. First the 2019 World Cup and now the 2021 T20 World Cup. In these conditions, Shakib’s angle and spin, along with Mahedi Hasan’s accuracy, can choke the opposition.
Kiplin Doriga played another finishing knock to get PNG to a decent total. Without Doriga, they might have collapsed below 50.
Broken Cricket Dream of the Day: Batting Failures Underlines PNG’s Campaign
97/10 is actually looks better than it actually was. Papua New Guinea were struggling for 29/7 at one stage. With that sort of a performance, victory at an international stage will be far away. In any case, it was a joy to have PNG at a World Cup. Great people, wonderful catching, and a beautiful story.
T20 World Cup Points Table, Stat Alert
No need to go elsewhere for the Points Table, Highest Run Scorer, Highest Wicket Taker, Most Catches, and Most Dismissals. We will keep updating it in every article!
Max O’Dowd – 123 runs (Netherlands, 3 Matches)
Shakib Al Hasan – 9 wickets (Bangladesh, 3 Matches)
Image Courtesy: Graphic (original work), Kyle Coetzer – Photo by Francois Nel-ICC/ICC via Getty Images, Mahmudullah – Photo by Mike Hewitt-ICC/ICC via Getty Images
Toss: Scotland won the toss and chose to field first.
Venue: Al Amerat Cricket Ground, Muscat, Oman
Umpires: Kumar Dharmasena & Richard Kettleborough
What Actually Happened
Winner: Scotland won by 17 runs
Scores: Scotland 165/9 – PNG 148/10
Player of the Match: Richie Berrington
Best Figures
Kabua Morea – 4/31 (& Chad Soper 3/24)
Josh Davey – 4/18 (in 3.3 overs)
Most Runs
Richie Berrington – 70 (49)
Norman Vanua – 47 (37)
Moments of The Day: Berrington, Davey Help Scotland Make it 2 in 2
Richie Berrington & Matthew Cross help Scotland post a large total. When they came in, Scotland were 26-2 in 3.4 overs. When Cross departed, they had climbed up tpo 118 in 14.3 overs. Clean striking from these two. A beautiful one-handed catch by Berrington to go along with the runs.
Kabua Morea & Chad Soper combined figures were 55/7. This included Morea’s beautiful bowled to Coetzer and a 4-wicket over in the 20th (including a run-out). Restricted Scotland from 151-3 in 18 to just 165/9.
Brad Wheal-Josh Davey-Alasdair Evans are making a good medium pace trio as they each took a wicket a piece to get rid of PNG’s top order. Davey’s 3.3-0-18-4 ensured that the late assault by Norman Vanua – 47 (37), Kiplin Doriga -18 (11), and Kabua Morea – 6* (1) did not amount to a win for PNG.
The game was closer than the scores suggested. They were right in it till the last over. In the first match against Oman, Vala-Amini were taking the game away before Amini’s run-out. A good fielding unit, they would look back at their batting errors and reflect if they missed out on a World Cup win.
No need to go elsewhere for the Points Table, Highest Run Scorer, Highest Wicket Taker, Most Catches, and Most Dismissals. We will keep updating it in every article!
Image Courtesy: Graphic (original work), Kyle Coetzer – Photo by Francois Nel-ICC/ICC via Getty Images, Mahmudullah – Photo by Mike Hewitt-ICC/ICC via Getty Images
Moments of The Day: Amini-Vala’s Fluency, Maqsood’s Over, and the Ilyas-Jatinder Show
Bilal Khan, Kaleemullah set the tone for Oman. PNG never really recovered from the maiden wicket over & the 1-run wicket over. Tony Ura & Lega Siaka were both bowled for ducks.
Assad Vala & Charles Amini turn it on for PNG. Left-arm batters are a joy to watch. Put two of them together, and it is even better. Captain Vala and Amini regularly danced down the track and hit lofted shots to muster a 81 (60) partnership.
Then a W, 1, W, 0, W, 0 over by opposing captain Maqsood caused a collapse from which PNG never recovered.
Honorable Mention: 131-run partnership from Aqib Ilyas (50*) and Jatinder Singh (73*) as Oman coasted to victory; Jatinder Singh does the Shibhar Dhawan ‘Gabbar; celebration after a catch.
Broken Cricket Dream of the Day: The Run Out
PNG had recovered from 0/2 and were coasting at 81/2. Then came the hara-kiri moment—ran from the non-striker’s end a, Nadeem picked the ball, and direct hit. Amini was looking so good…as
Tweets of the Day
Despite not having the best days on the field, it was a huge moment for Papua New Guinea nevertheless. Here are some tweets and threads that made this day special for the players and the fans in the backdrop of the beautiful mountains behind Oman’s stadium.
PNG support staff in tears during their national anthem. It's the tears of reaching to this stage after such hardwork, cricket is a beautiful sport. pic.twitter.com/TfJfV46n7t
The World Cup is about to start. And that means the latest nation will be joining. Papua New Guinea.
You will hear them being referred to as a family a lot. And compared to other cricket teams they certainly feel more like a family than a collection of athletes.
Today is the first day of the Cricket World Cup and in a COVID-induced twist of events, it's kicking off in Muscat, Oman
Having cut my teeth playing on cement & sand for the national junior team a decade+ ago, feels surreal to watch cricket in a beautiful stadium in Oman on ESPN pic.twitter.com/v0S44pFwzf
No need to go elsewhere for the Points Table, Highest Run Scorer, Highest Wicket Taker, Most Catches, and Most Dismissals. We will keep updating it in every article!
Jatinder Singh – 73* runs (Oman, 1 Match)
Zeeshan Mahmood – 4 wickets (Oman, 1 Match)
Jatinder Singh (Oman), George Munsey (Scotland) – 2 catches
Group B Table
Teams
Played
Won
Lost
Tied No-Result
Points
Net Run Rate
1. Oman
1
1
0
0
2
+ 3.135
2. Papua New Guinea
1
0
1
0
0
– 3.135
2. Bangladesh
4. Scotland
T20 World Cup 2021 Points Table
Also, if you have not yet read our T20 World Cup Previews, here is a list of all of them! Check them out and share ahead:
