Luxembourg v Portugal at Corfu – European Championship Division Two Twenty20 (Group A) – Match Update
Bolstered by an unbeaten half-century from Tariq Aziz, Portugal claimed an 11-run victory over Luxembourg in their Group A match at the Marina Ground on September 6, during the European Championship Division Two Twenty20 currently being played in Corfu.
Batting first, Portugal opened their innings with http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Zafar-Ali-c98403 (0). The latter was soon dismissed by Taral Desai, but Tariq Aziz stuck it out till the very end, guiding the team to a winning total.
Skipper Akbar Saiyad was fairly lacklustre, dismissed on 7 by http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Christopher-Andrew-Evans-c50717 (4-0-21-2), but wicketkeeper batsman Rizwan Khaliq (32 off 15) proved an able partner for Tariq Aziz, and the two batsmen set up a 3rd-wicket 59-run stand, which got
the team up to 72.
Rizwan Khaliq fell prey to Piran Merkl (4-0-24-2), and Bilal Safdar (10) and Jose Pais (9) who followed him were unable to contribute much. However, Paolo Buccimazza (13*) managed to apply himself at the crease for an unbeaten 52-run partnership with Tariq
Aziz, which enabled Portugal to post a final total of 165 by the end of 20 overs, at the expense of 5 wickets.
Owing to rain, the revised target for Luxembourg, as per D/L calculations, was 131 runs from 15 overs, but the team found themselves unable to meet the challenge.
Openers http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Adrian-Roger-Kirshaw-Pierson-c42135 it out at the crease for a steady partnership, although following the latter’s dismissal at the hands of Zafar Ali, Pattabiraman managed to set up a 26-run stand with Joost Mees
(who top-scored for the side with 40) before he himself was bowled by Khalil Izaz.
Mees and Desai (19) set up a 51-run 3rd-wicket stand which got the team up to 96, but following the dismissal of both batsmen at the hands of Nadeem Nazar (3-0-27-2), Luxembourg were unable to hold their own. With skipper Tony Whiteman (13*) and
Wayne Codd (6*) at the crease, the team found themselves restricted to 119 by the end of 15 overs – 11 runs short of the target.
The victory saw Portugal earning 2 match points, and the team will now be facing off against http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Finland-c2898 for the 5th Place Play-Off Semi-Final on September 7, while Luxembourg will be battling it out in the 9th Place Play-Off Semi-Final
against Cyprus on the same date.
Tags: