Players from the lesser-known nations who could light up the World T20 Qualifier
Peter Della Penna in Belfast08-Jul-2015 Gyanendra Malla – Nepal Even though he is only 24, Malla has almost a decade of experience with the men’s team after debuting as a 15-year-old against Kuwait at the Asian Cricket Council Trophy in 2006. The vice-captain is sometimes cast in the shadow of his captain and national icon Paras Khadka, but Nepal’s faithful consider him the more naturally gifted batsman of the two.While Khadka is a tall and sturdy accumulator, Malla is much more of a freewheeling entertainer possessing a wide array of strokes. When he gets humming, he won’t hesitate to shuffle around the crease and bring out the reverse slog sweep to throw bowlers out of their rhythm. He was recently pushed up to open against the Netherlands in a bid to energise the rest of the order with his dynamic capabilities. If he can adjust to that slot it could pay huge dividends for both him and his team.Malla has been in peak form the last 12 months. He scored his maiden ton against Singapore at WCL Division Three in October and finished as Nepal’s leading scorer to help them secure promotion. At the subsequent Division Two this past January in Namibia, he led the team averages again with 236 runs at 59.00 and made 91 not out against Kenya in a match where the next best Nepal score was Khadka’s 20.He is also electric fielding inside the circle during the Powerplay before being sent out to long on or deep midwicket for his catching abilities during the slog overs. Whether it’s with the bat or in the field, the action follows Malla. Tony Ura – Papua New Guinea Assad Vala and Mahuru Dai were PNG’s batting heroes in their maiden first-class win over Netherlands while Lega Siaka became PNG’s first ODI centurion in a historic victory over Hong Kong last November. When it comes to Twenty20 cricket though, Tony Ura has been arguably his country’s most rampaging menace at the crease.Few have matched his exploits at tournaments in the East Asia-Pacific. In July 2011, he scored 354 runs at 59 with a century and three 50s as PNG secured a spot in the World T20 Qualifier for the first time. Ura once again topped the runs list at the last East Asia-Pacific qualifier in November with 304 runs to get PNG to Ireland.At PNG’s first appearance in the World T20 Qualifier in 2012, Ura was their leading scorer with 197 runs in nine games, including a best of 70 against Netherlands. He came back a year later to torment the Dutch with 100 off 60 balls in a 52-run PNG win. Ura finished second overall with 336 runs behind only Scotland’s Matt Machan.At 25, the powerful right-hander is firmly entrenched at the top of the Papua New Guinea order for the foreseeable future and is a key cog in his country’s efforts to make the T20 World Cup for the first time. Timil Patel – USA USA’s most experienced player, the 31-year-old legspinner has been roaming around California since 2010 taking buckets of wickets but only recently has he got the chance at the national stage after qualifying under the ICC’s four-year residency rule. Prior to coming to America, Patel had a 38-match first-class Ranji Trophy career for Gujarat.After battling through a finger injury at ICC WCL Division Three in Malaysia last October, Patel showed what he is capable of when fully fit by topping the wickets list at the Americas qualifier in May with 15 wickets at an average of 7.66 in six games. Standing at 5′ 5″, Patel has the benefit of flighting the ball generously to deceive batsmen, and he had five men out stumped in Indianapolis. Patel showed he would be a threat in Ireland by taking 4 for 19 bowling against a stiff breeze at Bready on Tuesday against the North West Warriors interprovincial side.Patel is held in such high esteem by his team-mates that when members of the USA squad were polled after the Americas championship in Indianapolis about which member of the squad they could least afford to play without, many of them named Patel ahead of Steven Taylor. Their reasoning was that while Taylor has the potential for big scores, those innings don’t come along often whereas Patel takes wickets at key times in every match to shift momentum in the field.USA legspinner Timil Patel snares his share of wickets using flight to tempt batsmen down the track•Peter Della Penna Mark Chapman – Hong Kong For a country where there is often lament about the lack of development in the indigenous community, Mark Chapman provides some hope that the game in some way may breach the Chinese population. The 21-year-old was born in Hong Kong to a Chinese mother and Kiwi father and has progressed quickly to become his country’s vice-captain.A wiry left-hand bat, Chapman provides a calm counterpoint to the boom or bust approach employed by some of his team-mates who come in ahead of him. A talented athlete, Chapman also excelled as a junior rugby player before an injury at King’s College in Auckland resulted in torn knee ligaments. However, he has recovered in the last two years and is back near his best on the cricket field.Chapman scored half-centuries against Netherlands and Zimbabwe in a pair of warm-up wins ahead of last year’s World T20 in Bangladesh but faltered once the tournament got underway. He has been in impressive form on Hong Kong’s UK tour leading into this qualifier though, including 56 against Warwickshire 2nd XI and added 22 in a low-scoring win over the Netherlands. Ahsan Malik – Netherlands The 25-year-old rarely breaches 130 kph on the speed gun, but over the last two years has developed into Netherlands most potent wicket-taking threat and one of the cagiest bowlers in Associate cricket. Malik’s stock arsenal is bowling a series of leg and off cutters to keep batsmen off balance, the one with extra-pace working more as a surprise delivery.After taking just six wickets in five games at the World T20 Qualifier in 2012, he stormed his way to a tournament-best 21 in 10 matches in 2013. He followed that up at the main event in Bangladesh by turning in the best ever figures by an Associate bowler against a Full Member when his 5 for 19 against South Africa almost propelled his side to causing a major upset.He is at his most lethal during the death overs when batsmen on the charge struggle to respond to his constant changes of pace. Malik took 11 wickets in four games against Nepal in the recent home series, more than double the next closest bowler on either side. He should be a handful to face as he rolls his fingers across the seam on wickets in Scotland.
