Four players from Canada, two each from Namibia, Nepal and Oman, and one from the champion side UAE make up ESPNcricinfo’s team of the tournament
Peter Della Penna16-Feb-2018Rohan Mustafa (UAE) – 183 runs, two 50s; 13 wickets at 12.38The UAE captain ranked third among opening batsmen in runs and eighth overall in the tournament. Though his best two statistical performances with bat and ball respectively came with 73 against Kenya and 5 for 34 against Canada, arguably his most impactful performances came in two do-or-die situations. First was the run-out from midwicket against Oman that sparked a collapse from 93 for 3 to 113 all out. Two days later he claimed 3 for 31, including the crucial scalp of Gerhard Erasmus, to deny Namibia’s late charge in a 19-run win that clinched UAE’s spot at the World Cup Qualifier in Zimbabwe.Ruvindu Gunasekera (Canada) – 216 runs, two 50sThe belligerent left-hander was the tournament’s leading scorer at the end of the round-robin stage. His hot bat at the top of the order got Canada off to a brisk start against Oman (46 off 34 balls). Three days later, he batted through a thumb injury to make 83 off 99 balls against Kenya. His influence on the team coming back for his first tournament in more than two years was immense, and helped put Canada in position to make the cut for Zimbabwe before they were pipped on the final ball of pool play.Paras Khadka (Nepal, captain) – 241 runs, one 100 and one 50Nepal’s Mr. Everything finished as the tournament’s leading scorer and as usual stepped up in key situations. In a low-scoring chase against UAE, Khadka top-scored with 51 off 48 balls to relieve pressure when four of the top five fell for single digits. Similarly, against Kenya, Nepal were 14 for 3 chasing 178 before his 42 off 44 built a bridge to the match-winning stand between Rohit Paudel and Aarif Sheikh in a last-ball win. He capped off the event with his second List A ton in the final to anchor Nepal’s chase, which fell just short in the final over.Peter Della PennaNitish Kumar (Canada) – 206 runs, two 50sCanada’s captain finished sixth on the runs charts, and set the tone for their near-qualification in the second over of the tournament with the catch of the week, running back 25 yards from slip for a diving effort against Oman. He bookended that with perhaps the second-best catch of the week, a screamer at short midwicket to pouch Nepal captain Gyanendra Malla on the final day of pool matches. In between, he scored a match-clinching half-century against Oman and then put in a brilliant all-round display against UAE on day two, top-scoring with 62 before two wickets late in the chase propelled Canada to a tense win.Craig Williams (Namibia) – 225 runs, two 50s; nine wickets at 22.88The allrounder finished fourth in runs at the tournament and chipped in at key times with the ball as well. A brilliant catch in the slips against Nepal was nearly enough in a match that played a major role in deciding which of the two sides would go to Zimbabwe. His best of 82 against Canada also came at a crucial stage of the tournament to keep Namibia in with a chance until the final day, on which he scored 54 against UAE in a chase where the hosts fell narrowly short.Gerhard Erasmus (Namibia) – 229 runs, three 50sThe middle-order finisher only had four innings during Namibia’s six matches in the round-robin stage but scored half-centuries in all but one of them. His ice-cold 63 not out against Oman, rescuing Namibia from 65 for 7 chasing 166, was perhaps his finest knock in national colors. Erasmus nearly took Namibia past UAE for a spot in Zimbabwe with 58 off 63 balls before his wicket in the 48th over, coming with 28 needed off 15 balls, effectively sealed victory for UAE.Hamza Tariq (Canada, wk) – 77 runs; 12 catches, two stumpingsNo wicketkeeper at the tournament really stood out with the bat – all six specialists ended with less than 100 runs – but Tariq was exceptional with the gloves. The Calgary man who has been contracted with Trinbago Knight Riders showcased his skills in Namibia with a tournament-leading 14 dismissals, five more than the closest challenger. He can also lay claim to being one of the few not dominated by Sandeep Lamichhane, smacking him out of the attack with a pair of sixes late in Canada’s innings against Nepal.Peter Della PennaNikhil Dutta (Canada) – 11 wickets at 11.45, 2.45 economyGets the nod over Bernard Scholtz due to his metronomic consistency from match to match. Dutta claimed Man-of-the-Match honours on day one against Oman with 3 for 11 in just 3.4 overs. His most expensive spell was 2 for 26 against Namibia and his doosra kept batsmen off-balance all week.Bilal Khan (Oman) – 17 wickets at 10.76, 3.53 economyThe hard-luck bowler of the tournament. Bilal’s left-arm swing coming in at around 140kph was a handful for every team in this tournament. His two best spells, 5 for 33 against Namibia and 2 for 28 against UAE, should have resulted in victories but Gerhard Erasmus survived his spell in the first encounter before taking Namibia to an improbable win while Oman’s batsmen let Bilal down in the UAE chase. He padded his stats with another five-for against winless Kenya in the final-day fifth-place playoff.Kaleemullah (Oman) – 10 wickets at 15.70, 3.20 economyThe tallest player at the tournament gave batsmen fits adjusting to his height and bounce. His awkward, economical spells give him the nod over several other candidates for the other specialist medium-pacers slot. Kaleemullah’s best performance came in a Man-of-the-Match effort when he rampaged through Nepal’s order, including the key duo of Khadka and Gyanendra Malla – to claim 4 for 28. He had UAE under pressure in his new-ball spell and eventually finished that day with figures of 10-3-24-2, which ultimately went unrewarded after a batting-order stumble.Sandeep Lamichhane (Nepal) – 17 wickets at 10.35, economy 3.23One of the youngest players at the tournament outdueled vastly more experienced opponents early and often in Namibia before walking away with Player-of-the-Tournament honours and finished tied for the wickets lead with Bilal. Kenya may have ended the tournament without a win, but Lamichhane’s intervention at 65 for 0 to reel off 5 for 20 was one of a half-a-dozen pivotal sequences he contributed to in Nepal’s promotion to the World Cup Qualifier. He claimed another Man-of-the-Match award for his first-day 4 for 18 against Namibia, but he may be most remembered for his role in the pair of last-wicket stands – 18 with Basant Regmi against Namibia and 51 with Karan KC against Canada – that scripted the most dramatic WCL ending ever.
