After the conclusion of the league stage of the World T20 Qualifier in Scotland and Ireland, ESPNcricinfo looks at the top performers and the teams that failed to leave a mark in the tournament
Peter Della Penna in Malahide20-Jul-2015StudsJohn Mooney – Frequently an unsung hero in the Ireland squad hidden behind some bigger names, Mooney has been exceptional with the ball, taking a tournament-best 14 wickets. He has been equally adept in the Powerplay – when he ripped through Namibia’s top three in an opening-day win – and at the death, taking a hat-trick against Jersey.His only bad over came against Papua New Guinea when Norman Vanua stole a win with three sixes in the 19th over. Mooney has arguably been held back too low in the batting order, sitting at No. 8. He made a crucial and unbeaten 20 off seven balls to give a late boost against USA and of the 18 deliveries he has faced in the tournament, eight have gone to the boundary.Irfan Ahmed – USA’s impending victory over Papua New Guinea on the last day of group play meant Hong Kong needed to beat Namibia or they would be out of the tournament. The big-hitting opener stepped up at the right time, hitting the highest score by anyone so far at the tournament with 98 off 55 balls to set up a hefty win.With the ball, he is tied for Hong Kong’s leading wicket-taker with eight wickets in five games. His match-winning spell of 3 for 11 also led to a win over Ireland and provided good support for Haseeb Amjad with two wickets to help dismantle Nepal.Zeeshan Maqsood – Being the fifth-ranked Asian team, expectations were not too high from Oman, but they sprung several surprises to make their way into the knockout stage. The left-arm spinning allrounder played a central role in two of their three wins.Against Canada, Maqsood smacked an unbeaten 86 off 41 balls to win by seven wickets. A much bigger shock arrived when he took 4 for 23 to spin out the Afghanistan tail in a 40-run win. He was Oman’s second-best scorer and their leading wicket-taker in Scotland with 139 runs and nine wickets respectively.Jonty Jenner – The 17-year-old was one of the youngest players at the tournament but never looked overawed by the occasion of Jersey’s first appearance at a World Cup Qualifier. He ended the group stage second on run-scorer’s list behind Namibia’s Stephen Baard.After he top-scored in the win against Nepal with the score of 30, his biggest score came against Namibia with an unbeaten 90 off 52, and against Ireland he looked in good flow before getting a doubtful lbw decision on 26. He will be one to watch for some time.DudsUAE’s bowling unit has struggled just as much, if not more than the batsmen•ICC/Donald MacLeodNepal – After finishing third at the qualifier in 2013 and notching two wins at the subsequent World Twenty20 in Bangladesh last year, a last-place finish in Group A is a gargantuan step backwards. Nepal’s batting performance was so dire that they were the only one of the 14 teams who didn’t have at least one player cross 100 runs. Gyanendra Malla scored 52 on the opening day against USA, but only managed 30 runs in his next four innings to end with a team-best 82 runs in Ireland.Though Nepal’s bowlers were never given much of a chance with targets of 54, 94, 106 and 110 to defend, there was not much bite in the field beyond Sompal Kami who took six wickets. Kami’s pace partner Karan KC was a massive disappointment, going for a wicketless 64 runs in five overs across three games.Canada – The undefeated Americas champions laid a major egg in Scotland to go winless in group play. A resounding eight-wicket loss to a Scottish provincial side four days before the tournament was a harbinger of things to come. An administrative bungle prior to the team’s departure did not help matters either.Mystery spinner Nikhil Dutta had secured a Caribbean Premier League contract after originally being named in the Canada squad but was still open to joining the national team ahead of the first game against Kenya. However, Cricket Canada cut off their nose to spite their face by swapping in Hiral Patel and revoking Dutta’s No Objection Certificate. The decision robbed the team of their best bowling asset and the impact is clear where they ended up in the standings.Jimmy Hansra, who led the team averages at the Americas Championship in May, sat out of the games in Scotland to nurse a knee injury which added to their list of woes.UAE – The side was dealt a bad hand with a three-game gauntlet of Scotland, Afghanistan and Netherlands to start the tournament and as a result they had trouble finding their feet. Even so, following up a commendable set of performances in the 2015 World Cup with a solitary win over Canada was a poor display.The team was always bound to struggle in their first major tournament in the post-Khurram Khan era. However, the bowling unit struggled just as much if not more than the batsmen. Given a total of 164 to defend against Afghanistan, they were scorched by Mohammad Shahzad and Asghar Stanikzai in an eight-wicket loss. Mohammad Naveed finishing as their best wicket-taker with four in five games says a lot about their struggles with the ball.
