Report card: How Associate nations fared at the T20 World Cup

The T20 World Cup would have been poorer with the absence of Associate nations, some of who managed to turn the tables on Test nations and spring surprises. Here's a look at the report card of each of the nine non-Test countries at the biennial tournament

  

Canada (6/10)

Canada’s high-point in the T20 World Cup came against Ireland in New York as the North American nation won the duel by 12 runs. Apart from that win over the young Test nation, the Canadians led Saad Bin Zafar lost two matches – against USA and Pakistan – both by seven wickets. Their match against India was washed out. They finished second last with three points, in fourth place, in Group A, just ahead of Ireland. Their performance was decent but got overshadowed by the success of their North American neighbours.

USA (8/10)

The United States of America were the story of the tournament. The co-host defeated last edition’s finalists Pakistan in the Super Over, and Canada by seven wickets to storm into the Super 8 stage along with India from Group A. In the group stage, they had lost to India by seven wickets and had their match against Ireland abandoned. The Americans, despite losing regular captain Monank Patel to freak injury, carried the confidence into Super 8s, running the South Africans close before losing by 18 runs. The last two matches in Super 8, however, were forgettable as they were thrashed by co-host West Indies by nine wickets and by England by 10 wickets. Players like Saurabh Netravalkar, Aaron Jones, Adrien Gous and Monank Patel caught the cricketing world’s eye. They finished second in Group A but fourth and last in Group 2 in Super 8.

Papua New Guinea (2/10)

The only chance Papua New Guinea (PNG) had to garner points in their second outing at the T20 World Cup, after the first in 2021, was against Uganda. However, they lost that close game to T20 World Cup debutants by three wickets. PNG, however, did put up a fight against host West Indies losing by five wickets with one over to spare. Sese Bau got a fifty. Their batting failed in the next match against Uganda, getting bowled out for 77. However, Afghanistan and New Zealand swept them away, winning by identical margin of seven wickets. PNG finished fifth and last in Group C with 0 points.

Oman (4/10)

The gulf nation coached by Sri Lankan great Duleep Mendis began well, tying with fellow Associate country Namibia before losing in Super Over and then not allowing Australia a cakewalk in the 39-run defeat. Australia had to bowl full quota to bowl the Omani team out. However, Oman followed that up with a seven-wicket loss to Scotland and an eight-wicket loss to England, ending Group B in fifth and final place with 0 points.

Namibia (5/10)

All-rounder David Wiese, who had also represented South Africa, retired at the end of his team’s sojourn at the T20 World Cup. He scripted Namibia’s only win over Oman, performing well with both bat and ball in the Super Over. However, they lost to Scotland by five wickets, were thrashed by Australia by nine wickets and lost to England by 41 runs in a match curtailed to 10 overs by rain. Wiese was the standout performer with 27 off 12 balls and 1/6 in two overs in his last match. Namibia finished fourth in Group B, just ahead of Oman with two points.

Uganda (3/10)

Except for their win against Papua New Guinea (PNG), it was a trial by fire for Uganda. Bowled out for 58 by Afghanistan (loss by 125 runs), 39 by West Indies (loss by 134 runs), and 40 by New Zealand (loss by nine wickets), the Ugandans were at sea in the tournament. However, the World Cup debutants would carry happy memories of their maiden T20 World Cup win over PNG by three wickets. Having dismissed PNG for 77, the Ugandans were struggling at 26/5. However, Riazat Ali Shah saw them home with 33. Uganda finished fourth in Group C with two points.

Scotland (7/10)

Scotland scored two wins, both coming against Associate nations, Namibia (by five wickets) and Oman (by seven wickets). Of their two matches against Test nations, the one against England was washed out. They lost their last game to Australia by five wickets with two balls to spare, running the top Test country close. Aussies were restricted to 36/2 in the powerplay while chasing 180 and that gave Scots great hope to qualify for the Super 8 stage. It was only Marcus Stoinis’s 59 off 29 that saw the Aussies through. Scots finished third in Group B with five points, the same as England. But England through due to better net run rate.

Nepal (4/10)

The highlight of Nepal’s campaign was them pushing eventual finalists South Africa to the wall and losing by just one run. The Nepalese lost to Netherlands by six wickets, and then had their match against Sri Lanka abandoned due to rain. However, the match at St Vincent against the Proteas will be the one for the future Nepali generations to look upto. After restricting Proteas to 115 thanks to 4/19 by Kushal Bhurtel and 3/21 by Dipendra Singh, the Nepali team was on course, needing 17 off 16 balls with seven wickets in hand, before three wickets in six balls in the 18th and 19th overs derailed their chase. Nepal then lost to Bangladesh by 21 runs after dismissing the Test nation for 106.

Netherlands (5/10)

The Dutch started the tournament with a six-wicket win over Nepal before losing to South Africa by four wickets. The Oranje reduced the Proteas to 12/4 in 4.3 overs after being all out for 103. But David Miller (59 off 51) saw the Africans through.  The Dutch fought well against Bangladesh before losing by 25 runs and wound up the tournament with an 83-run loss to Sri Lanka. They finished in fourth place in Group D, on two points, ahead of Nepal. A little bit of more application or experience could have seen them through to Super 8 stage.

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T20 World Cup, Cricket, ICC