Pakistan-Ireland warm-up match washed out due to rain:Afghanistan defeat West Indies, Namibia edge past Scotland

Pakistan could not get a chance to warm up before the T20 World Cup after their practice game against Ireland was washed out due to rain in Colombo on 4 February. Placed in Group A, Pakistan would open their T20 World Cup campaign against the Netherlands on 7 February. Meanwhile, Namibia registered a thrilling six-run victory against Scotland. In another T20 World Cup warm-up fixture, Afghanistan overcame West Indies by 23 runs. Pakistan-Ireland warm-up match cancelled Incessant rain at the Sinhalese Sports Club in Colombo did not even allow the toss in the Pakistan vs Ireland match to take place. This was the only warm-up match for both teams. Ireland will face Sri Lanka in their first match on 8 February. Pakistan earlier had boycotted their match against India on 15 February in Colombo. Uncertainty on this fixture still prevails over this fixture as the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) are yet to officially communicate their boycott call to the International Cricket Council (ICC). Also read: How India and Pakistan can qualify for Super 8 stage: Australia face tricky road, South Africa and New Zealand in ‘Group of Death’ Namibia defeat Scotland by six runs Namibia defeated Scotland by 6 runs in a high-scoring warm-up match played at the BCCI’s (Board of Control for Cricket in India) Ground-2 in Bengaluru. Brandon McMullen played a quick innings of 95 runs for Scotland, but could not lead his team to victory. Batting first, Namibia scored 226 runs for 4 wickets in 20 overs. Openers Jan Frylinck scored 88 and Lohandre Steenkamp scored 51 runs. Both added 79 runs in the powerplay itself. After Frylinck’s dismissal in the 11th over, captain Gerhard Erasmus scored an unbeaten 33 and Ruben Trumpelmann scored 25 runs to strengthen the score. In response, Scotland had a poor start, but McMullen brought life into the match by hitting 6 fours and 8 sixes off 39 balls. Richie Berrington scored 46 runs. 12 runs were needed in the last over, but JJ Smit gave away only 5 runs and dismissed Berrington, securing victory for Namibia. Afghanistan beat West Indies by 23 runs Afghanistan defeated West Indies by 23 runs, at the BCCI CoE Ground-1 in Bengaluru to register their second consecutive win in warm-ups. Batting first, Afghanistan scored 182/6. Ibrahim Zadran scored 51 and Rahmanullah Gurbaz scored 43 runs. There was a 90-run opening partnership between the two. Azmatullah Omarzai retired out after scoring 24 runs in the 18th over. West Indies’ batting faltered from the start. Omarzai dismissed Brandon King and Shai Hope in the early overs. By the start of the 14th over, when Rovman Powell was out, the score was 82/7. Matthew Ford scored an unbeaten 52 runs in the end, but could not lead the team to victory.