Jersey bid scuppered by hosts

4 October 2008

Poor shot selection saw Jersey slip to a 34-run defeat at the hands of host nation Tanzania in the opening round of ICC World Cricket League Division Four matches.

Tournament favourites Afghanistan and Hong Kong also registered wins as the tournament kicked off in the East African country, with a place in Division Three and a shot at World Cup qualification at stake.

Tanzania skipper Hamisi Abdallah was named man of the match as the host nation began with a win at the Anadil Burhani Ground.

The Africans registered a paltry 142 with the bat, after a below-par performance which saw them collapse from 85 for two to 119 for nine.

Shaheed Dhananib (32) top-scored, while Abdullah (31) and Riziki Kiseto (eight not out), put on an invaluable stand of 27 in between the rain breaks to take Tanzania to a defendable total.

Jersey made a solid start, but were undone by some disappointing shots on a slow batting surface, struggling to come to terms with a strong Tanzania spin attack.

The Channel Islanders were 69 for two when a disappointing shot from captain Mat Hague sparked a middle-order collapse, losing four wickets for just eight runs.

Abdallah said: “Everybody worked hard and my team gave me the support that I asked of them.

“It is our first game and there are so many games in this tournament we just need to keep playing well. We tried to bowl to our field and at the stumps. The spinners did a wonderful job.”

Afghanistan got off to a winning start at the Leaders Club in Kinondoni, with its bowling line-up once again saving the team after a poor performance with the bat against Fiji.

Zain Abbas scored a vital 70 for favourites Hong Kong

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Batting first in a rain-affected match reduced to 40 overs per side, Afghanistan managed to last only 35.3 overs, totalling 132 all out.

Iniasi Cakacaka (4-26) and Waisake Tukaha (3-16) did the damage for an excellent Fiji attack.

But Hamid Hassan (4-25) led a spirited Afghanistan bowling performance, as Fiji crumbled to 52 all out.

“At the start we had a problem as we only got 130 runs, but we always thought that would be enough runs,” said Hassan.

“We just tried our best with the ball. And it paid off.”

Asian Cricket Council Elite champions Hong Kong recovered from a poor start against Italy to win the clash between two of the pre-tournament favourites at Dar es Salaam University.

In a game reduced to 41 overs per side, Hong Kong, ranked 25th in the world, overcame the loss of two early wickets to post an imposing score of 210 for five.

Zain Abbas (70), Ilyas Gul (48) and Butt Hussain (44) were all in excellent form for Hong Kong.

Hong Kong then put in a good bowling and fielding display to restrict Italy to 163 for nine, leaving coach Aftab Habib content with his side’s start.

“It was a really good team performance,” said Habib, the former England batsman.

“We’ve got a lot of character and fight in our team and Zain Abbas played an exceptional innings today. There’s still a lot more to work on in the rest of this tournament though.”

Hong Kong take on Tanzania at the Leaders Club tomorrow and Habib is looking forward to the challenge of playing the host country.

“Every game is an important one in this tournament as they are all World Cup qualifying games and if you want to be a top team you have to beat all the other sides. Tanzania are a dangerous team and we are looking forward to playing them.”

In the other second-day matches, Italy take on Fiji at Anadil Burhani, while Afghanistan play Jersey at the University.

Score summaries:

Hong Kong beat Italy by 44 runs at University (match reduced to 41 overs per side)
Hong Kong 210 for five, 41 overs (Zain Abbas 70, Ilyas Gull 48, Butt Hussain 44)
Italy 164 for nine, 41 overs (Moner Ahmed 3-24)

Tanzania beat Jersey by 34 runs at Anadil Burhani
Tanzania 142, 46.2 overs (Shaheed Dhananib 32, Hamisi Abdallah 31)
Jersey, 108, 42.5 overs (Ryan Driver 25, Khalil Rehemtulla 2-16)

Afghanistan beat Fiji by 81 runs at Leaders Club (match reduced to 40 overs per side)
Afghanistan 132, 35.3 overs (Ahmad Shah 34; Iniasi Cakacaka 4-26, Waisake Tukaha 3-16)
Fiji 52, 21 overs (Hamid Hassan 4-25)