The top nations will join the event - played in stadiums 70-percent full - on October 23, with Australia and South Africa meeting in the opener of the Super 12 stage and England up against West Indies.Īsian giants India will begin their campaign against arch-rivals and fellow former champions Pakistan on October 24 with Virat Kohli looking to go out with a bang before stepping down as captain of the T20 side. The eventual champions pocket a $1.6 million winner's cheque. Teams exiting at the first hurdle take home a modest $40,000. A place in the next round guarantees a spot in the 2022 T20 World Cup in Australia. The top four then progress to the semi-finals before the final in Dubai on November 14. The eight teams in the first round of qualifying are chasing four places in the Super 12 round-robin stage.Įngland, Australia, South Africa, defending champions West Indies, India, Pakistan, New Zealand and Afghanistan will be waiting with all matches in Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Sharjah. Ireland, Namibia, Netherlands and 2014 champions Sri Lanka join the qualifying fray on Monday.
"It wasn't a good start with the bat, losing two wickets with no runs," said Vala.
Maqsood sent back Norman Vanua, Sese Bau and Kiplin Doriga in the space of five deliveries and later took one more as PNG, who had been 0-2 at one stage, collapsed from 102-3. And because we got the wickets, they couldn't put on a big total," said Maqsood. "They were batting very well when I got the wickets. PNG captain Assad Vala, who made 56 off 43 balls, and Charles Amini, who smashed 37, had briefly given their team hope with an attacking third-wicket partnership of 81. Openers Aqib Ilyas (50 from 43 balls) and Jatinder Singh (73 from 42) then clattered the PNG bowlers around the ground without being parted to steer Oman home with 6.2 overs to spare. "Bowlers did their job really well but the batting unit wasn't good enough," said Bangladesh captain Mahmudullah Riyad.Įarlier, Oman skipper Zeeshan Maqsood returned figures of 4-20, which included three in one over, as tournament debutants PNG struggled to 129 for nine. The 34-year-old all-rounder now has 108 wickets in 89 matches since his debut in 2006. The only bright spot for Bangladesh was Shakib taking two wickets which allowed him to surpass Sri Lanka's Lasith Malinga as the leading wicket-taker in T20 internationals. With the score on the board, you've got something to bowl at." "It was just to rebuild the innings at that stage and see where we could go from there. "We were in a tough situation obviously and it doesn't always go that way," he said.