ICC Men’s T20 World Cup Qualifier 2019 Group A Preview, Key Players, Prediction

Less than a year before the 2020 T20 World Cup in Australia, fourteen teams will battle it out in the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup Qualifier 2019. The top six from here will join Sri Lanka and Bangladesh in the First Round of the main tournament, from which four teams will proceed to the main phase.

With Ireland, UAE, Oman, and Hong Kong all in Group B and Zimbabwe not playing, this is probably the easier of the two groups. Scotland – who have the highest rank among the 14 sides – and Netherlands will start among favourites for the top three spots, though predictions often backfire in 20-over cricket.

Scotland had won the Quadrangular Tournament in Oman this February before having a 2-2 outcome in the Ireland Tri-Nation Series last month. Netherlands, on the other hand, had held Zimbabwe to a 1-1 draw in August, then beat Ireland at Malahide, but have done little since then.

Papua New Guinea are coming off a superb show in the East Asia-Pacific Qualifier, winning all 9 decided matches: they trounced Vanuatu, Samoa, Fiji, and Phillipines en route, but this time they will be tested by sterner opposition.

The Africa Qualifier had turned out to be a closer affair, with both Namibia and Kenya finishing with 3 wins from 5 matches in the final phase, while the others were abandoned – including the match between the two sides. At this point there is little to choose between the sides.

Singapore, too, won all 8 of their decided matches, causing heartbreak for Nepal in the last match. To prove that it was not a one-off tournament, Singapore then beat Zimbabwe in a T20I at home – unarguably the greatest moment in their cricketing history.

Bermuda quickly recovered from their shock defeat against Cayman Islands to win 7 on the trot and make it till here. Their only defeat came against Canada, who emerged as the champions.

Key players

Delray Rawlins (Bermuda): A decent all-rounder, Rawlins now has an all-formats contract for Sussex. He was named Player of the Match for his 46-ball 69 and 4-0-19-2 against Gloucestershire in this summer’s Vitality Blast.

Shem Ngoche (Kenya): One of Kenya’s famous Ngoche brethren, Shem will lead Kenya this time. Known for accurate bowling, Ngoche has maintained an economy rate of 6.56 despite having played several teams stronger than Kenya.

Christi Viljoen (Namibia): Viljoen has played just 3 matches so far, but his figures – 1-0-5-0, 4-0-15-4, 4-0-9-5 – are indication of how good his new-ball bowling is.

Roelof van der Merwe (Netherlands): Van der Merwe, formerly of South Africa and a sought-after professional in franchise-based T20 cricket, has quickly emerged as the MVP for the Dutch. He strikes at 139 and goes for 6.59 an over, which tells a thing or two about his prowess.

Tony Ura (Papua New Guinea): PNG are a side of big hitters, but Ura stands out even among them with his tremendous six-hitting prowess. Along with Chad Soper and Assad Vala, Ura will have to play a key role here.

Kyle Coetzer (Scotland): The only Associate Nations cricketer to score a thousand T20I runs, Coetzer strikes at an impressive 125. He had slammed a 50-ball 89 last month against Netherlands, the other big team of the group.

Tim David (Singapore): David strikes at 164, but what really stands out are his two gems – 41 and 47 – against Zimbabwe, easily the toughest opposition Singapore have played so far. He will be one to keep an eye on.

Prediction

While Scotland, Netherlands, PNG, and Singapore are favourites for the top three, the others may cause an upset or two to make things interesting.