O'Brien bowls well but Ireland lose again
Fri 17 Jul 2015
Leicestershire all-rounder Kevin O’Brien again played an important role but Ireland lost a second successive ICC World T20 qualifier in Group A.
O’Brien claimed 3-32 from his four overs as Hong Kong were limited to 129-8 from their allocation but Ireland couldn’t get home. The hosts made 124-8 at Malahide with O’Brien making five after batting at number four.
To stand a chance of making the major tournament, a top four finish is required and second-placed Ireland are on course, having won three matches out of five.
But their route to the finals is now looking more complicated following the setbacks to Papua New Guinea and Hong Kong.
First place is the only way to gain automatic qualification to the ICC World T20 tournament next year and Papua New Guinea are a point clear of Ireland at the top with a game in hand.
If Ireland come second or third, they will get two more shots to progress. Ireland would take on the team that finishes third or second in a qualifying play-off. If they lost that fixture, another play-off would follow against the side that finishes fourth.
Ireland have one game left against Jersey at the same venue in Dublin on Sunday.
Scotland, in Group B, are in the same position of Ireland having won three out of five but their route to that point has been slightly different given they have won the last two games.
County all-rounder Rob Taylor bowled four overs for 24 runs but a ninth wicket stand of 48 in 4.5 overs between Navneet Dhaliwal and Junaid Siddiqui enabled Canada to score 135-8 at Edinburgh.
Despite that late flurry of runs, Scotland eased to their target inside 15 overs as Northamptonshire’s Kyle Coetzer ending on 51 not out.
Coetzer put on 45 with Calum MacLeod (29) and 51 with ‘keeper Matt Cross (21) before sharing an unbroken 43 in 16 deliveries with George Munsey, who smashed 32 not out off 12 balls.
Scotland currently occupy fourth place and a win against leaders Oman in the final game will guarantee them a top-four finish.
If Scotland lose at Edinburgh tomorrow, they will need Kenya to beat Netherlands otherwise Scotland will definitely finish outside the play-off positions because of the way the table has taken shape.
Should Scotland and Netherlands both suffer defeat, the final play-off position would be decided by net run rate as they would both have three wins from six matches.
