Bahrain’s inspirational run in the 2022 ICC Men’s T20 World Cup Global Qualifier A tournament in Oman ended on a disappointing note when they lost their 5th place play-off against Canada by seven wickets.
The kingdom’s national side, featuring weekend amateurs with expatriate roots, struggled to a sub-par total of 131 for 8 in their allotted 20 overs after captain Sarfaraz Ali won the toss and elected to bat.
In reply, Canada shrugged off the early loss of one of their openers in the second over of their innings and coasted comfortably to their target, led from the front by skipper Navneet Dhaliwal who scored a match-winning 54 not out, with seven wickets and more than five overs to spare.
Earlier, Bahrain had slumped to 31 for 3, before David Mathias and Haider Butt staged a revival with a 44-run stand for the fourth wicket in just seven overs.
But, just when it seemed that the two were on the verge of cutting loose for a final onslaught in the last five overs, Mathias perished for 30.
Butt followed 20 runs later and, with their momentum gone, Bahrain lost three more wickets as they limped to a total that seemed hard to defend on a pitch that didn’t appear to hold any real demons.
That assessment proved correct as Canada, after losing of one of their openers, sped along in the first eight overs before losing the fluent Rayyan Pathan for a rapid 38 off 26 deliveries with the score at 48 for 2.
Wicketkeeper-batsman Shreyas Movva and Dhaliwal then motored along nicely, before leg-spinner Junaid Aziz accounted for Movva.
But there was no stopping Dhaliwal, who finished with 54 off just 27 balls, including four sixes as Canada romped home in style.
The eight-team tournament was held to select two teams that would participate in the upcoming 2022 ICC Men’s T20 Cricket World Cup, due to be held in Australia later this year.
Bahrain, slotted in a group with Ireland, Germany and the UAE, started their bid to create history with a comfortable win over Germany before threatening to embarrass ICC Full Member side Ireland in a competitive game they eventually lost by 21 runs.
A sensational two-run upset win over the UAE in their last group game, however, was not enough to help Bahrain make the semi-finals. Despite finishing level on points with both Ireland and the UAE, Bahrain were narrowly edged out on net run-rate.
A comprehensive 91-run victory over the Philippines the very next day set Bahrain up for yesterday’s 5th place clash against Canada.
In the other play-off matches, also played yesterday, Germany defeated the Philippines by nine wickets after chasing down a 110-run target with ease to earn their first win of the tournament, and 7th place.
Meanwhile, losing semi-finalists Nepal and hosts Oman slugged it out in a battle for 3rd place, with Nepal overhauling an 88-run target to win comfortably by nine wickets.
Finalists Ireland and the UAE had already qualified for the main event in Australia by winning their respective semi-finals but the final was not an inconsequential affair with both sides battling hard for the winners’ trophy.
Batting first after winning the toss, Ireland could never get any momentum going and only a solid half-century by Harry Tector and a late-order blitz by Shane Getkate, who made 30 off 19, enabled them to reach 159 all out off their 20 overs.
Despite losing two early wickets, the UAE eventually sauntered to a seven-wicket victory with more than an over to spare, led by a breath-taking 112 by 28-year-old opener Muhammad Waseem, who smashed eight sixes and seven fours in his 66-ball knock.
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