Norway posted a decent target for Japan in a match of the ICC Cricket League Division Seven, at theBotswana Cricket Association Oval 2, Gaborone. The team reached 244 runs in their allotted 50 overs, courtesy some brilliant batting by their middle-order batsmen.
Japan’s captain, Masaomi Kobayashi, won the toss and chose to field first. He expected his bowlers to get some seam and swing in the first hour of play and the decision was right, as the opposition got off to a struggling start.
Norway’s openers, Shehraz Khalid and Adeel Ibrar, failed to make an impression at the top of the order and were dismissed for 14 and two runs respectively. The team’s first-drop, Ehetsham-ul-Haq was also unable to get going and was sent back to the pavilion after adding just 15 runs to the total.
Shahid Ahmed and Muhammad Shahbaz Butt offered some resistance and took the team’s total to 80, with a solid 45 run stand. However, Shahid was dismissed after scoring five runs and he was followed by his skipper, Damien Shortis, who was run-out without even facing a single delivery.
Norway were struggling at that stage, as five of their top-order batsmen had been sent back to the pavilion for just 81 runs on the board. However, Shahbaz and wicketkeeper batsman, Iftikhar Suhael, batted sensibly, guiding their team out of trouble.
The pair put together 125 runs for the sixth wicket, rescuing their team from trouble. The team’s keeper batsman was dismissed after scoring a brilliant 53 runs off 66 balls, with the help of five fours in the innings. Shahbaz was unfortunate to miss-out on what would have been a superb century for Norway. He fell just two runs short of the landmark, trying to lift the scoring rate. He struck 12 fours in his knock.
Umran Shahzad scored an unbeaten 28 runs from just 18 balls, hitting four fours and one massive six. His cameo guided the team’s total close to 250.
Patrick Giles-Jones was the pick of the Japanese bowlers, taking four wickets in the match. He gave a few runs away in the death overs, but was exceptional with the new ball. Takuro Hagihara also bowled well, dismissing two batsmen.
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