http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Afghanistan-c745 v Namibia - ICC World Twenty20 Qualifier - Preliminary final – Match Update
Afghanistan 146 v Namibia 99 - Afghanistan won by 47 runs
On Thursday, March 22, 2012, Afghanistan qualified for their second successive World Twenty20 after beating Namibia by 47 runs in the preliminary final of the International Cricket Council (http://www.senore.com/Cricket/ICC-World-Cup-2011-c100625) World Twenty20 Qualifier, at Dubai International Cricket Stadium.
This is a huge achievement for a team from Afghanistan which is a mere toddler in the cricket world, but with their superb performance in this tournament, they have certainly challenged the audacity of their exclusion from the Asia Cup 2012, where teams from http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Bangladesh-c747 clashed against each other to see who was a better side in that part of the world.
Both teams faced off without a loss in the tournament and were full of confidence and raring to have a go against each other.
Earlier, after winning the toss, Afghanistan chose to bat and went off to a flyer as openers http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Javed-Ahmadi-c66518 gave the Namibian bowlers a harsh welcome by smacking them all around the park without remorse.
With an impressive total of 57 runs on the board, Afghanistan lost their first wicket when Sadiq was dismissed after crafting an innings of 28 runs off 24 deliveries.
The batting side lost their second wicket with 70 runs on the board, when Ahmadi had his stumps pulverised by Namibian pacer http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Sarel-Francois-Burger-c88808 after scoring 24 runs.
The middle-order batsmen then failed to score big knocks but kept the score board ticking which ultimately resulted in a tally of 146 runs on the board.
From http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Namibia-c2964, pacers Christi Viljoen and Burger shared three wickets each.
Needing a steady start to their innings in order to grab a win, Namibia suffered a tragic loss of two wickets with only one run on the board as openers http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Gerrie-Snyman-c59913 lost their wickets in the first over of their innings without scoring.
With only 18 runs on the board, the side were four wickets down and in deep trouble. It was then a desperate struggle from the lower-middle-order, but that was not enough to subdue Afghanistan as the whole team faltered on 99 runs in 18.1 overs.
From Afghanistan, http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Aftab-Alam-c945 nabbed four wickets, while Dawlat Zadran was named as the Player of the Match as he grabbed three wickets and gave away five runs in his 3.1 overs.
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