The group stages, with their farcical mismatches (Brunei, Bhutan, Myanmar and Iran should probably find something else), are now finally concluded, and we come to the juicy stuff. The tournament is now a direct knock-out, but last year's runners-up and World League Division II member Oman has been knocked out at the group stage, after being drawn into a tough group with Singapore, Bahrain and the Maldives.
UAE are looking strong, with seamer Shadeep Silva demolishing Malaysia when Ali Asad had a rare off day (8 wicketless overs for 23), and with Saqib Ali providing good specialist batting (132* and 52* on the trot).
Singapore went through from group B in style after bowling Oman out for 127, though admittedly with nine catches, four of them behind, in "hazy sunshine". Ruwan and Arora have batted well, however, putting on stands of 103 v Singapore and 170 in a comprehensive win over Bahrain. They're evidently accustomed to the conditions.
Nepal have won all four matches, but have benefited from an easy group, and only made 211 in sunshine at the Kilat Club against fellow quarter-finalists Hong Kong. They proceeded on net run rate after a suitably dramatic last over against Kuwait; with three to win off five balls, Najeeb Amar was run out, before Amjid Mahmood hit a single. Two to win off three. But the next two balls were both caught, and suddenly Hong Kong needed two to win off one ball (but presumably knowing their net run rate was better than Kuwait's, so a tie would be enough). Seamer Afzaal Haider, who had already three wickets, hit the required single to give Hong Kong the win.
In Group D, no team has provided suitable challenge for Afghanistan: after a shabby start against Qatar, Rais Ahmadzai steadied the innings with a measured 70 as they posted 239 for seven, and Nasser Khan demolished Qatar's top order. He struck again against Thailand, who eked out 117 for nine, then conceded 66 in 9.1 (of 16) overs.
The interesting thing about Oman's knock-out is that there's only one spot in the World Cricket League available from Asia (this may be expanded, as there are rumours knocking about that the League is going to be expanded to five divisions come 2009), and this was to be awarded to the best team excluding UAE and Oman, who already had qualified for the World League. So conceivably, this could be a team knocked out in the semi-finals, but now all teams know they have to reach the final to make it.
The quarter-finals, tomorrow, are as follows:
U.A.E. vs Qatar:
No evidence suggests anything but a heavy UAE win here. Qatar relied on their top order against Thailand, and they're going to struggle against classy UAE bowling. Meanwhile, Thailand scored 229 on them, suggesting their bowling is shabby too.
Nepal v Bahrain:
With big pressure on Nepal, this might just be the match where they crumble. However, Bahrain aren't going to find the going with the bat as easy as they did against Oman, where they piled on 283 and could rely on their opponents to crumble (sixth bowler Qamar Saeed and seventh bowler Malik Mohammed shared five of ten wickets, and a sixth was a run out), and I think, although they have a good team spirit (shown by winning the Middle East Cup in April), they will be too light here.
Afghanistan v Malaysia:
Hosts Malaysia may be better than they showed against UAE, where they were bowled out for 143 with allrounder Suresh Navaratnam gone for a duck. He made a hundred against Saudi Arabia, where they piled on 300. However, they shouldn't be strong enough against a Afghanistan team who seem to beat everything in front of them this year.
Singapore v Hong Kong:
Easy win for Singapore - if Ruwan and Arora can get another partnership going, at least.
The semi-finals are then UAE v Nepal and Afghanistan v Singapore - an unlucky lot for Nepal, you'll have to say.
