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A groin strain has ruled Todd Astle out of New Zealand’s squad for their ODI and T20I tour of India. Fellow legspinner Ish Sodhi, who was initially only named in the T20I squad, will replace Astle in the ODI squad.Astle suffered the injury during the New Zealanders’ tour game against Board President’s XI at the Brabourne Stadium on Tuesday, walking off the field after bowling just three balls. According to an NZC release, a scan confirmed Astle had suffered a tear to his right side, which would rule him out for around three weeks.The ODI series begins on Sunday at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai.ODI squad: Kane Williamson (capt), Trent Boult, Colin de Grandhomme, Martin Guptill, Matt Henry, Tom Latham, Henry Nicholls, Adam Milne, Colin Munro, Glenn Phillips, Mitchell Santner, Ish Sodhi, Tim Southee, Ross Taylor, George Worker.

1:14

County Championship round-up: Yorkshire crumble against Essex

James Franklin and Ryan Higgins added 93 in 19 overs for the seventh wicket to shade the honours for Middlesex against Warwickshire on a helter-skelter day of championship cricket at Lord’s.Franklin played a captain’s innings of 55 from 76 balls, with a six and seven fours, and Higgins a gutsy 38 after being hit on the head, to rally Middlesex from 59 for 6 to 161 all out after they had earlier skittled Warwickshire for 126. In four overs’ batting before stumps, Warwickshire scored 12 without loss to trail, overall, by 23 runs.It was breathless stuff, on an opening day which started with Steven Finn bowling with real pace to take 4 for 53 in Warwickshire’s first innings and, with Tim Murtagh (3 for 20) and Tom Helm (2 for 42) equally impressive, putting Middlesex seemingly in command.

Sidebottom’s Lord’s dream

Warwickshire’s debutant fast bowler Ryan Sidebottom, who had only previously played one first-class match for his native Victoria in Australia, said: “Today has been an unbelievable experience. I’ve never been to Lord’s before, let alone played here. In fact, it’s my first time in England this summer.
“I was thinking about trying to get to Lord’s to watch the England v South Africa Test a few weeks back, but it didn’t happen – and now I’m playing here!
“It’s an incredible place, with such an aura. I’ve played a bit at the MCG back home, and that’s a wonderful stadium, but it’s more of a colosseum whereas Lord’s has a completely different aura with so much history all around you.
“It’s all happened really quickly. I came over to England to play club cricket and try to break into the county game. It’s great to be given this chance.

But Warwickshire, winless so far this season and cast adrift at the bottom of the Specsavers County Championship Division One table, fought back tigerishly after Chris Woakes marked his return from a two-month injury absence by taking a wicket with his fifth ball and 2 for 25 in a six-over new ball spell.Soon, as wickets continued to fall either side of tea, Middlesex were themselves in deep trouble before Franklin and Higgins tilted the balance of an absorbing day back towards the champions. Franklin was eventually last out, caught at slip trying to run a ball from off spinner Jeetan Patel to third man.It was quite a day for Higgins, who was a late inclusion after Adam Voges was injured in the warm-ups but then chipped in with the wicket of Matt Lamb, had to retire hurt after being hit on the helmet trying to hook the first ball he faced, from Chris Wright, but then returned to bat with courage and character in support of Franklin. Higgins’ 38 came from 51 balls, with six fours.Higgins said: “It was a pretty quick and good bouncer and I was a bit dazed, though felt OK. The umpire said go off for five or ten minutes and it was good to have a concussion test done.”Middlesex’s initial collapse featured a memorable championship debut for Warwickshire’s Ryan Sidebottom, a bustling 27-year-old Australian seamer with a British passport plucked from the Birmingham League and who took 8 for 33 for Warwickshire Second XI, against Northants seconds, two weeks ago. Here, he finished with 4 for 29 after castling Middlesex tailenders Helm (2) and Murtagh (4).In his first spell, Sidebottom had John Simpson leg-before for 2 and bowled Nathan Sowter for a duck. In between, Wright picked up a good low catch off his own bowling to dismiss Nick Compton for 22 and, just before tea, Stevie Eskinazi ran himself out for 7 after setting off for a risky single and being sent back by Compton.James Franklin kept Middlesex afloat•Getty Images

Finn’s superb post-lunch spell of 3 for 33 hastened Warwickshire’s earlier slide – with Tim Ambrose and Keith Barker caught behind for 4 and 12 respectively and Woakes taken at second slip for 12.The England fast bowler was well supported by Middlesex’s other seamers, with 23-year-old Helm also impressing and Murtagh as accurate as always as he included eight maidens in his 16 overs.Helm, swinging the new ball at a decent lick with his rhythmical action, made the initial breakthrough on a green-tinged pitch after Warwickshire, who chose to bat, lost Andy Umeed for 1 in the sixth over when he edged a drive to Franklin at third slip.Dominic Sibley, on Warwickshire championship debut following his switch from Surrey, played some confident strokes before, on 20, edging Finn low to Eskinazi at second slip.Finn’s pace and bounce troubled Jonathan Trott, but it was the slippery Helm who removed the former England batsman for 18 when he moved one back up the Lord’s slope to take the inside edge on its way through to keeper Simpson.Murtagh had produced a testing new ball spell of 7-5-5-0 and his reintroduction at the Nursery End quickly brought him a deserved wicket, with Bell (14) edging a lovely outswinger to Simpson.At lunch Middlesex were 64 for 5 with Higgins bowling Lamb for 3 off an inside edge in his second over, and after the interval Finn and Murtagh completed Warwickshire’s misery. That, though, was but a precursor to more breathless action during the rest of the afternoon and early evening.

Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsAndre Fletcher struck seven fours and four sixes in his unbeaten 84•Ashley Allen – CPL T20 / Getty

For the first 37 overs of the game, St Lucia Stars were ahead and cruising. Then came that one over everyone talks about in this format. With the Tallawahs requiring 40 off three overs in their chase of 174, Mitchell McClenaghan conceded 20 runs, and the Stars’ hopes of their first win of the tournament faded into their sixth successive loss. It was also the fourth-highest successful chase in tournament history.Andre McCarthy recovered quickly from a run-out that led to Rovman Powell leaving the field like he was ready for a locker showdown, and struck a match-winning unbeaten 61 off 37 balls to lead the Tallawahs to a five-wicket win with two balls to spare. It wouldn’t be much solace for the Stars, but they put on a much-improved performance with the bat. Andre Fletcher and Marlon Samuels blitzed fifties to lead them to 173, their highest score of the tournament.Pace off the ballThe Darren Sammy National Stadium was hit by passing showers just before the start. On a slow surface, that moisture may have just done enough to negate the penetration of seam-up deliveries – a burst of rain will only quicken a pitch up slightly, not change its nature. That should have been an indication for the Tallawahs’ bowlers to take pace off the ball.It took a few heaves and punches for the bowlers to switch to offcutters. It worked right away, an offcutter from Mohammad Sami took the inside edge of Johnson Charles and uprooted leg stump. The mode of operation didn’t change much thereafter.The unmatched utility of boundaries in T20sFletcher isn’t known for his ability to find gaps for singles. He is, however, an efficient boundary-hitter. The value of boundaries in T20s is high, but the utility of boundaries without consuming too many dot balls is significantly higher. In his 53-ball innings, he struck 24 singles and played 13 dots, effectively 24 runs off 37 balls.He also hammered 11 boundaries, seven fours and a six, almost as many as the number of dot balls he faced. That meant he finished with 84 off 53 balls with a strike-rate of 158.49. A T20 masterclass beckoned if he could convert a few more of those dots into singles.Keep calm and bat onWhen McCarthy stabbed a ball towards extra cover, called for two and didn’t respond, the Tallawahs were reeling. They needed 81 runs off 46 balls with six wickets in hand, and Powell was fuming all the way off the field. For McCarthy, that could have been a scarring emotional blow.Instead, he bided his time, found the boundary when he had to and delivered under duress. Imad Wasim also brought his experience and ability to a 45-run sixth-wicket stand that carried Tallawahs home. A few moments later, Powell was leaping onto McCarthy in joy.

Bangladesh were “nowhere near their best,” said Shakib Al Hasan, as they succumbed to a nine-wicket defeat at the hands of India in the Champions Trophy semi-final at Edgbaston.They were progressing well at 154 for 2 with Mushfiqur Rahim and Tamim Iqbal well set with more than 20 overs left. But the introduction of Kedar Jadhav’s part-time offspin created “panic” in the batsmen who, in Shakib’s words, “played some silly shots” to be knocked over for 264.Shakib dismissed the idea that inexperience was to blame, pointing out that the players Jadhav dismissed were among the most seasoned in the Bangladesh side.”The way we performed today was very disappointing,” Shakib said. “We were in a good position to get 320 or 330. The batsmen were looking good to make individual hundreds and get us to 320.”But India bowled a few dot balls. And because it was a part-time bowler, the batsmen tried to score more runs and in doing that, they lost wickets. Losing two wickets to an occasional bowler obviously didn’t help. And from there on they kept on bowling in good areas and that put us under a lot of pressure.”We have played enough games to know these things happen. We are all experienced people. Bowlers bowl good balls and sometimes you can’t score runs. It doesn’t mean you panic and play big shots and get out. We played some silly shots. And on this wicket, a score of 260 or 270 is not even par.”In that situation, it was important for them to bat another five or 10 overs, like the way I did with Mahmudullah against New Zealand. If they could have batted until the 40th over, both would have scored their hundreds and we might have made 330 or 340.”That was the game-changing period. It is disappointing. Playing in a semi-final is a big thing for us but we were nowhere near our best.”Shakib wasn’t overly impressed with Bangladesh’s performance in the field, either. While he accepted the batsman had made life “very hard” for the bowlers with an inadequate total, he was disappointed by their response.”We have a solid bowling line-up,” he said. “But there isn’t much help for the bowlers on these wickets unless you are a super quality bowler. Most of our bowlers need a little bit of help from the wicket, but we haven’t been getting any. I haven’t taken any wickets in the tournament.”With our total and that wicket, we knew it was very hard for our bowlers. But still I think we were nowhere near our best in our bowling and fielding.”Shakib insisted there were no divisions in the squad, though, and suggested that the team would learn from the experience.”It’s a group,” he said. “It’s nothing individual. We play as a team, we win as a team and we lose as a team.”Now we have time to regroup and come back strongly. We’ve come a long way and from here we can only go forward. We will have a good break and think how we can move forward.”

Scorecard and ball-by-ball details2:00

‘Crucial loss of two points’ – Coetzer

Allrounder Christi Viljoen continued to make his presence felt in his comeback tour for Namibia, taking three crucial wickets to wreck Scotland’s chase as the visitors came away with a 50-run win at the Grange on Tuesday. The win is only Namibia’s second in 10 matches in the current WCL Championship and it denied Scotland a crucial two points, keeping them three points behind Netherlands with four games left to play in the competition.While Namibia racked up 324 for 5 under sunny skies, the late-afternoon forecast meant the prospect of rain and DLS calculations loomed over Scotland’s chase. They got off to a brisk start behind captain Kyle Coetzer, who eventually finished with 112 for his eighth List A ton, and Matthew Cross in an opening stand of 42 in seven overs at which point the hosts were 10 runs ahead of the DLS par score.But Viljoen, who is in the process of attempting to qualify for New Zealand and hadn’t played for Namibia since 2014 prior to this series, changed the complexion of the chase when he was introduced in the eighth over by captain Sarel Burger. Just as he did in the first match between the sides on Sunday, Viljoen struck twice in his opening over, snaring Cross at short midwicket for 21 and then Calum MacLeod for a duck two balls later driving to mid-off. The double-strike meant Scotland ended the over 36 behind the DLS par score and they never got back out in front of the calculation in light of the lurking precipitation.Coetzer and Richie Berrington faced an uphill battle trying to claw Scotland back in front of the par score with grey skies on the horizon. The pair produced a valiant 117-run stand to drag Scotland close but the nearest they came to the par score afterward was four runs when the score was 141 for 2 after 25 overs. However, Scotland were six behind the par score when rain took the players off at 158 for 2 in 29 overs.A strong but brief shower came down, meaning the delay only lasted 18 minutes. A sense of urgency was present for Scotland though with ominous clouds never far off. On the Namibia side, left-arm spinner Bernard Scholtz had been applying excellent pressure prior to the break in a tremendous bounce-back performance after he was smashed for 29 off three overs on Sunday. Scholtz began by conceding just 18 off his first six overs prior to the rain and struck on his second ball after play resumed, beating Berrington with an arm ball after the batsman prodded down the wrong line to be given leg before for 61.Scholtz took his second in his next over when Preston Mommsen drove to long-off and he finished his marvelous 10-over spell of 2 for 32 without conceding a boundary. Con de Lange fell in the 38th driving Jan Frylinck to cover as Namibia’s pressure in the field continued to squeeze Scotland. The hosts had been 99 for 2 in 17 overs at the first drinks break but during the next 22 overs they were only able to score one boundary off the bat, with the only other ball that went to the rope coming from a leg-side wide for five extras.Coetzer was dropped at backward point on 90 off Viljoen but a straight six and another drive for two off the next two balls brought up his century from 114 deliveries. By that stage though, he was quickly running out of partners and was eventually caught on the run at wide long-off for Frylinck’s second wicket, effectively ending Scotland’s hopes of a comeback at 228 for 7 in the 43rd. Another short rain break came after 47 overs but play restarted to allow the last 18 balls to be batted out with Scotland ending on 274 for 9.Christi Viljoen bowled Craig Wallace with a yorker for his third wicket to help lift Namibia to a rare win•Peter Della Penna

The platform for Namibia’s win was laid by an imperious 124-run opening stand between Stephan Baard and Zane Green, who was promoted to open in place of the injured Louis van der Westhuizen. Baard dominated the partnership after Namibia won the toss, humming to 78 off 53 balls through positive but controlled strokeplay. Only two of his 12 boundaries were struck over the infield – one each driven over mid-on and mid-off – while he profited most with a series of elegant cuts behind point.Though Baard eventually fell edging a slower bouncer from Safyaan Sharif through to Cross, that was the only moment of success from Scotland’s short ball strategy that had been so effective in a win a day earlier. Green continued on to make a List A career-best 61 before he was given lbw to Mark Watt playing across the line on the back foot. Gerhard Erasmus missed a sweep to be bowled by Watt for 27 at the start of the 31st to make it 188 for 3 as Namibia appeared on course for 350-plus with wickets in hand.Scotland did well to contain Namibia over the next 16 overs but Craig Williams and JJ Smit broke the shackles by adding 45 off the last four. Vice-captain Williams ended unbeaten on 69 off 63 balls for the third half-century of the innings, his knock taking Namibia past 300 to a total that was comfortably defended in the end.The result means Netherlands hold a two-point advantage over Papua New Guinea and a three-point lead over Scotland with two rounds to go in the WCL Championship. Both Netherlands and Scotland have two-match series against Kenya while Scotland’s other series is away at PNG. Netherlands will play Namibia in their final series while PNG is paired against Hong Kong, currently in fourth place on 11 points.Netherlands can win the WCL Championship, and a possible spot in the proposed 13-team ODI league that has been mooted for the qualification cycle ahead of the 2023 World Cup, if they win their final four matches. Should Netherlands lose one of their last four and PNG win out to finish tied with Netherlands on 22 points, PNG would be crowned the champion team by virtue of having more wins – 11 for PNG compared to 10 wins and two no results for Netherlands.Since Scotland and PNG are paired against each other in the next round, with both teams needing to win out in their remaining games in order to track down Netherlands, only one of the two has a realistic shot to do it while a split series between Scotland and PNG would create an even bigger buffer for Netherlands. The Dutch have lost just one of their first 10 games and, barring a dramatic collapse in their last four, now appear on course to win the competition.

He is not part of Australia’s squad for next month’s Champions Trophy, but Peter Handscomb could hardly be doing any more to ensure he is the first man called upon if Australia need a replacement player. On Sunday at Headingley, Handscomb plundered 140 off 112 deliveries for Yorkshire, his maiden one-day century, and in doing so jumped to the top of the Royal London Cup run list.In five innings during the tournament, Handscomb has made 46, 86, 47*, 88 and 140, the kind of form that will appeal to Australia’s selectors should any of their batsman be ruled out of the Champions Trophy, to be held in England, due to injury. Handscomb played the first five ODIs of his career during the southern summer, but after 82 on debut did not reach double figures again.”Any time you get dropped from a team there’s going to be some disappointment, but I was able to see where the selectors were coming from,” Handscomb told radio network . “I only got my opportunity because Chris Lynn got injured during the summer and I was able to come in for him. He’s now fit and ready to go for Champions Trophy, so it makes sense to bring him back in and I completely understand that selection.”Just being in the country, I’m here and ready to go if anything does happen. But the Champions Trophy squad is unbelievably strong. Hopefully for the boys nothing does happen and they can have a great Champions Trophy.”Handscomb has enjoyed a remarkable start to his Test career: it took until his eighth innings before he was dismissed for less than 50, the longest such stretch from debut for any player in Test history. Although life became a little tougher on the tour of India, an unbeaten 72 in the second innings in Ranchi helped Australia grind out a draw and was described by captain Steven Smith as being “worth 150 in my eyes”.Next summer, he faces the challenge of helping Australia regain the Ashes in a home series against England, and he is confident that his winter placement with Yorkshire will help him when the Australian season comes around.”It’s very important. I’ve often found that when I have been able to play cricket matches over the Australian winter, I’ve been able to come back and hit the ground running during the Australian summer,” Handscomb said. “It’s good just to constantly play cricket and that time in the middle is so valuable and so much better than just hitting balls in the nets.”And although Handscomb’s form for the time being is outstanding, he is well aware that the relentless nature of the county season can mean that any dip in productivity can be difficult to remedy.”With the county season, it can be sort of one way or the other,” he said. “If you can get yourself onto a bit of a roll, because there is so much cricket, you can find yourself feeling really good out in the middle and hopefully converting that into runs. But on the flip side, you don’t get a lot of time to practice if you are out of form. If you’re having a tough time out in the middle, you don’t really get any time to work on it.”The job is to make runs every time you go out to bat. Once you start thinking that batting becomes easy, then that complacency sets in, and cricket’s a bit of a fickle game like that, it can really take you down if you do start getting a bit complacent.”

North Zone secured their maiden Bangladesh Cricket League title after they earned three points from the drawn game against East Zone at the in Fatullah. South Zone and Central Zone had won the BCL trophy twice each in the first four editions of the tournament. This match ended due to poor light after only 47 overs on the final day.

List of BCL champions

Central Zone (2012-13)
South Zone (2013-14)
South Zone (2014-15)
Central Zone (2015-16)
North Zone (2016-17)

Earlier, North Zone, having been sent in, posted 374 in 111.3 overs. Farhad Hossain led the way with 108, and added 204 runs for the second wicket with Junaid Siddique who contributed with 84. Seamer Mohammad Saifuddin was the pick of the bowlers for East Zone, claiming 4 for 55.Shafiul Islam’s six-wicket haul then wrecked East Zone’s reply and helped North Zone to a 158-run first-innings lead. North Zone then seized the advantage with Nazmul Hossain Shanto scoring an unbeaten 122, which steered the team to 295 for 8 dec. Nasir Hossain assisted Nazmul with 63 off 84 balls. Chasing an improbable 454, East Zone ended at 128 for 3 in 36 overs. Shafiul finished with a match haul of eight wickets.A run-fest at the BKSP-3 ground in Savar pushed the South Zone–Central Zone contest into a draw.South Zone amassed 749 runs in the first innings after Tushar Imran and Shahriar Nafees both struck double-centuries. Tushar, who hit his second double-hundred in the three first-class matches, finished with 217 off 338 balls, including 21 boundaries. Nafees’ unbeaten 207 came off 298 balls with 18 fours and five sixes. Mohammad Mithun, batting at No. 3, was among the runs too, scoring 131 off 186 balls.Mithun and Tushar put on 230 runs for the third wicket while Nafees and Tushar added 215 runs for the fourth wicket in South Zone’s mammoth first-innings total. Central Zone were forced to use 11 bowlers, including wicketkeeper Nurul Hasan.They replied with 415 all out, with Shadman Islam hitting 113 off 330 balls, including 17 fours. Taibur Rahman missed a hundred by ten runs while Saif Hassan made exactly 50. South Zone raced to 33 in two overs in their second innings and eventually walked away with three points.

New Zealand and Auckland batsman Colin Munro will miss the next round of games in the domestic first-class competition, the Plunket Shield, due to a code of conduct breach. At a hearing on March 8, Munro was found guilty of using “inappropriate language” in Auckland’s previous game, against Canterbury. He did not appeal the verdict.New Zealand Cricket chief executive David White said in a statement: “Colin Munro has been suspended from playing in the upcoming eighth round of the Plunket Shield, as a result of a Code of Conduct hearing following the Aces’ previous match, against Canterbury at Eden Park. Munro had used inappropriate language in the round-seven fixture and, given his previous record in this area, handed down a one-match suspension.”Auckland’s next match is against Northern Districts, from March 14. They currently sit fourth out of seven teams on the points table, with one wins, two losses and four draws. Munro has been in good touch in the competition, hitting three centuries in six innings to total 475 runs at 95.00.

AB de Villiers brought it up first this time. South Africa are heading back to Eden Park for a winner-takes-all showdown. And it’s not a one-off T20I this time.Neither is it a World Cup semi-final, but with the Champions Trophy looming, it is not irrelevant.Throughout the first few days of this tour, every South African player put up for interview was asked for memories of the famous semi-final almost two years ago. The general mood was that it would always be part of their history, but it’s time to move on.After winning the T20, de Villiers smiled when he said he had seen endless runs of the semi-final on TV since arriving in New Zealand and added that time had helped him see “only good things” about the game.Now, after seeing this series levelled on the back of Martin Guptill’s unbeaten 138-ball 180, de Villiers hinted at South Africa’s history with the venue for the deciding encounter.”There’s a big final to play, there’s a lot at stake, it’s a big-pressure game,” he said. “It would be great for us to come through a big-pressure game like that, especially at Eden Park. We won the T20 and it would be great to win the ODI and finish this leg of the tour on a high. We haven’t yet hit our straps as we wanted to, yet, in both departments, so hopefully it will happen in the last game.”Twice he called Saturday’s match a “pressure game” and twice he termed it a “final” – a combination of factors that haunts South African cricket history. Even a decider of a bilateral series – during which South Africa have seen their No. 1 ranking slip away – can’t replicate the significance of a global tournament semi-final, but it’s the closest they will get before it comes to crunch time at the Champions Trophy.No one came into this series with a bigger reputation than Imran Tahir. He is ranked No. 1 in both white-ball formats and claimed 5 for 24 in the T20 victory. However, in the ODIs he has been kept quiet with just four wickets and an economy rate of 5.87. In Tuesday’s match at Seddon Park, New Zealand mixed caution with aggression – two maidens being traded for 56 runs, including five sixes hit by Guptill.De Villiers acknowledged how New Zealand have been able to combat Tahir’s threat, but expected the surface at Eden Park to be more to his liking.”They respect him a bit more, are playing him better, and that sometimes happens if you have a match-winner in your team,” he said. “We also look after one or two of their bowlers and are confident we dominate the rest. They have a similar game plan against Immi; they really looked after him well tonight (on Wednesday). They took him on at the right time.”Eden Park’s wicket is a bit quicker; Immi likes to bowl on quicker wickets. Tonight’s was pretty slow, so even if you didn’t pick him, you could play him. Most spinners like a pitch that turns quickly.”Respect was the word used by Mike Hesson as well when asked about quelling the threat of Tahir. After the T20 thrashing, he had said it was important New Zealand played Tahir on “their terms” rather than being forced to chase the game against him. Instead, Hesson believed they have made Tahir strain for success.”We’ve respected him as a threat, also bearing in mind if we deny him wickets he does go searching a little bit and create scoring opportunities.”

Eight of the top Associate teams in world cricket have touched down in the United Arab Emirates this week to compete in – what a few of the participants have dubbed a ‘mini-Associate World Cup’ – the inaugural Desert T20 Challenge. Associate teams are constantly pining for more opportunities to play and, as such, this tournament is a welcome addition to their fixture calendar, one that they hope is not a one-off.Some of the participants are looking at this tournament as a way to make a big statement by potentially knocking off some of their big-named peers, such as Afghanistan. For others, it is an opportunity to blood new talent in a rare Associate event in which promotion, relegation or some other form of ICC tournament qualification or progression isn’t at stake.The format has eight teams split into two groups of four, and playing three round-robin group games. The top two teams from each group then advance to finals day, with a pair of semi-finals played on the morning and afternoon of January 20 before the final that same night. Here’s a look at how each team is shaping up heading into the tournament that begins from January 14 in Abu Dhabi.Group A
2:33

We’ll try to repeat what we did in 2016 – Rashid Khan

AfghanistanThe top-seeded tournament favourites took another big step forward last year by not only reaching the main draw of the World T20, but beating eventual world champions West Indies in a low-scoring thriller in the group stage. In terms of their T20 form, they swept UAE 3-0 in a series held in Dubai last month, giving them more recent game experience in the format than every other team in the tournament.Aside from the usual suspects like Mohammad Shahzad and Dawlat Zadran leading the way with bat and ball, some younger faces have emerged to ensure that Afghanistan remain the top dogs of Associate cricket. Najibullah Zadran was the Man of the Match in the win over West Indies and the impact of that performance gave him a wondrous boost of confidence that carried over through the rest of 2016. In the recent series against UAE, Najibullah scored a total of 104 runs off 45 balls across three innings, without being dismissed in his role as the team’s finisher. Any team hoping looking to disrupt Afghanistan’s path to the final will need to find a way to cool down his red-hot bat.United Arab EmiratesAfter a poor showing at the 2015 World T20 Qualifier, UAE sprang a major surprise by upending Afghanistan, Hong Kong and Oman to reach the main draw of the 2016 Asia Cup, where they very nearly pulled off another upset against Sri Lanka. It was their bad luck that Lasith Malinga decided to suit up to test his bruised knee ahead of the World T20, wrecking UAE with a spell of 4 for 26 in their pursuit of a target of 130. Malinga hasn’t played another match since.Though they were downed by Afghanistan last month in all three T20Is in Dubai, UAE ran them close in the first two encounters. They fell 11 runs short chasing down 161 in the first match before Shaiman Anwar’s half-century in a total of 179 was negated by the brilliance of Najibullah. Shaiman was the leading scorer in the three-match series with 150 runs and he’ll need to produce similar output to give UAE the best chance of reaching the semis.William Porterfield and Ireland have not had much to cheer about in T20 cricket of late•ICC/Getty Images

IrelandIt may seem odd to some that Ireland and Afghanistan were paired in the same group for the round-robin stage, especially when they’ll be facing each other in an extended tour beginning in March. But Ireland was drawn on this side by virtue of having the lowest T20I ranking – 17th – of any team at the tournament. It is the most tangible representation of their struggles in the format. Beginning with a shocking loss to Papua New Guinea in Belfast at the 2015 World T20 Qualifier, they have lost eight of their last 11 completed T20Is.Ireland’s most recent match was a 40-run loss at home to Hong Kong in September in which they brought in five debutants in an attempt to stop the rot. The most promising performance from that group was delivered by Greg Thompson, who top-scored with 44 that day.William Porterfield is the longest tenured captain at the tournament and will be hoping that a return to the site of Ireland’s victorious 2012 and 2013 World T20 Qualifier campaigns may serve as an inspiration to turn around their fortunes.NamibiaThe only team without T20I status in the tournament, Namibia received an invitation after Papua New Guinea declined to participate. In their most recent major T20 tournament action, they ended up a frustrating seventh place at the 2015 World T20 Qualifier after having finished third in the group stages. With two chances to clinch a trip to India, they were soundly beaten by the Netherlands before being stunned by Oman, which not only cost them a spot at the main tournament but a chance at T20I status as well.Namibia had a rocky road against other Associates throughout 2016 as well, losing an Intercontinental Cup match by an innings to Afghanistan before being swept in a pair of WCL Championship matches in Nepal. Their problems were magnified when a full-strength side were delivered a crushing 141-run home defeat in September by Saudi Arabia in preparation for a I-Cup and WCLC tour of Papua New Guinea, which also ended with three losses. Their hopes for reaching the semis may be pinned to the return of Louis van der Westhuizen. The big-hitting left-hander helped Namibia to a 7-0 record in round-robin play at the 2012 World T20 Qualifier in these same venues, including a destructive century against Scotland, but was out of the side for nearly two years before marking his return in November.Group B
Peter Borren will try to shore up Netherlands, who have not played regularly in the lead-up to this tournament•International Cricket Council

NetherlandsThe highest seeded team in their half of the draw have shown remarkable resiliency to replenish their available assets over the years to keep themselves in the conversation for top Associates. This has shown through particularly in T20I cricket where once again they demonstrated their capabilities on a global stage at last year’s World T20, running Bangladesh very tight before succumbing by eight runs, before continuing to have Ireland’s number with a win in Dharamsala.Their entire fixture list has been sparse since then. A grand total of four days of cricket since last March – losing inside of two days to Afghanistan in the Intercontinental Cup in July, followed by a WCL Championship split with Nepal in August – may have allowed some rust to build and it was borne out in a five-wicket loss to a UAE Developmental XI on Wednesday. It’s up to captain Peter Borren to coax a good bounce back in their opening encounter against Oman on Sunday.Hong KongThe lone side in this group to play a T20I since the World T20 in March, Hong Kong defeated Ireland by 40 runs in September and have stayed fairly busy since then in all formats with tours to Scotland and Kenya in addition to hosting Papua New Guinea for three ODIs in November. Most recently they had a development tour to Australia with an emphasis on T20 cricket, which included games against Sydney Sixers and Sydney Thunder.The batting is headlined by captain Babar Hayat, who eclipsed Afghanistan batsman Mohammad Shahzad’s then record score of 118* to produce the highest T20I score by an Associate player when he made 122 in a loss to Oman at the 2016 Asia Cup. Hayat will be tasked with taking a good chunk of the batting burden in the absence of Mark Chapman, who continues to develop playing with Auckland in New Zealand’s domestic competition. The spin arsenal, led by left-armer Nadeem Ahmed, may be a handful in these conditions.Calum MacLeod will be looking to bring the big runs into T20s as well•Peter Della Penna

ScotlandDespite the sudden retirement of former captain Preston Mommsen in November, Scotland enter this event with one of the most settled squads in this tournament. Kyle Coetzer has taken over the leadership once again after relinquishing the job to Mommsen in 2014 and remains an explosive presence at the top of the order. Calum MacLeod produced two centuries in his last three ODI innings for Scotland at home against UAE and Hong Kong and has a great opportunity to continue that form in T20 cricket.On the bowling side, Scotland has a young pace attack that may be tested in desert conditions. However, the glue holding the side together with the ball is Con de Lange. The left-arm spinner was a ripe 34-year-old when making his debut for the national side in June 2015 after migrating from South Africa, and in the 18 months since then has rapidly turned into one of Scotland’s most consistent contributors, marked by his elevation to the vice-captaincy in the wake of Mommsen’s departure. He’ll need good support though, from fellow left-arm spinner Mark Watt, in order to tie down some explosive batting lineups in Group B.OmanThough they are officially the lowest-ranked side in this half of the draw, Oman will not be taken lightly after making waves in the cricket world over the past year and a half by not only qualifying for the World T20 in India, but then defeating Ireland in their tournament debut. Despite not having played any T20Is since leaving Dharamsala, they have actually been one of the busiest Associate sides in world cricket, playing a total of 16 one-dayers as part of their consecutive promotions at World Cricket League Division Five in May and Division Four in November.Coach Duleep Mendis has never been afraid to tinker with the side in the search for winning combinations and as a result a slew of changes have taken place for the squad arriving in the UAE. The biggest ones are the omissions of batsman Jatinder Singh and slingy medium-pacer Munis Ansari, who each paid for sub-par performances at Division Four in Los Angeles, while the side may be galvanized by the return of wicketkeeper-captain Sultan Ahmed. The 39-year-old’s career appeared finished after he was axed following the World T20, but he has been given a surprise recall in a bid to boost Oman’s chances of reaching the semis.