Dubai: Ireland pacer Craig Young produced a haul of four for 13 to restrict Nigeria to 66 for nine and win by eight wickets in the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup qualifier at the Zayed Cricket Stadium in Abu Dhabi and earn a place in the play-offs.
Young was well backed by opening bowler Mark Adair with two wickets for 19 runs.
Together they pushed Nigeria, who elected to bat first, to 34 for five in the first 10 overs.
Only two batsmen Sesan Adedeji (19n.o.) and Issac Okpe (14) reached double figures.
Ireland reached the target in just 6.1 overs, losing two wickets. Opener Kevin O’Brien hit a quick 32 off 17 balls.
At the Dubai International Stadium, Netherlands displayed their huge batting strength by scoring 206 for three against Bermuda and won by 92 runs. Netherlands batsmen, starting from their opener Max Dowd who hit 59 runs in 42 balls and his partner Ben Cooper, who scored 57 off 37 balls, went for their shots.
They put on a 123-run partnership in 12.5 overs as Netherlands crossed the 200-run mark due to Colin Ackermann’s breezy 43 runs off 18 balls with five boundaries and two sixes.
Bermuda could not get the right start due to tight bowling from Roelof van der Merwe and Ackermann that removed the openers for just 18 runs.
By the 10th over, Bermuda slipped to 59 for four. Paul van Meekeren bagged three wickets for 26 runs and restricted Bermuda to 114 for nine.
Oman defeated Canada by eight wickets through a late night match on Friday night at the Zayed Cricket Stadium. Canada made 144 for nine through opener Srimantha Wijeyeratne’s 56 runs. Oman’s Zeeshan Maqsood took three wickets for 25 runs to check the run flow.
Chasing the score, Oman opener Jatinder Singh (68 n.o.) and No. 3 Aqib Ilyas (60) thrashed the Canada attack to put on 126 runs for the second wicket. It was Oman’s highest partnership in T20 cricket and they won with 31 balls to spare.
