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Kenya
will play Scotland while Canada will take on the United Arab
Emirates in the semi-finals of the ICC Intercontinental Cup which
begin in the UAE on Wednesday 17 November.
Kenya
v Scotland preview
Kenya’s
semi-final match against Scotland will be the first international
first-class match at the recently constructed Zayed Cricket
Stadium in Abu Dhabi.
The 18,000 capacity stadium
will provide an impressive backdrop for a fascinating tie between
a young
Kenya side and an experienced
Scotland team.
Kenya
reached the semi finals by topping the Africa group with a victory
over Uganda and a draw with Namibia.
Kenya’s
20-year-old captain Rageb Aga will be hoping for more runs from
the tournament’s top scorer Ravindu Shah, who hit 187 not out
against Namibia.
Scotland
goes into the match without the influential presence of
Warwickshire’s Dougie Brown who has been ruled out with an elbow
injury.
However, Craig Wright’s team
should go into the semi-final with confidence after a convincing
victory over
Ireland in their second
qualifying match.
After drawing their tournament
opener against
Holland, Scotland defeated a
strong Ireland side by eight wickets thanks to an unbeaten
second-innings century from Fraser Watts and 53 not out from
Douglas Lockhart.
Scotland were put in a winning
position in the decisive Dublin encounter by left-armer Asim Butt
who took nine wickets in the match and will be targeting a repeat
performance in Abu Dhabi.
Canada
v UAE preview
The UAE will be hoping to make
effective use of home advantage in their ICC Intercontinental Cup
semi-final against
Canada at Sharjah.
This will be the second ICC
Intercontinental Cup match to be played at Sharjah after the UAE’s
draw with
Nepal in the tournament
curtain-raiser in March.
On that occasion UAE bowler Ali
Asad finished with an impressive haul of 13 wickets but it was
still not enough to secure a victory for the home side.
The UAE went on to win its
second qualifying match in
Nepal to book a place in the
semi-finals. Asad took five further wickets in that match, making
him the tournament’s second-leading wicket taker.
Canada
goes into the semi-final without spinner John Davison, the
tournament’s top wicket taker with 23 wickets.
Davison has been replaced as
captain by Ian Billcliff who has called upon the rest of his team
to pull together in the absence of their star performer from the
qualifying rounds.
Billcliff will be hoping for
more runs from Haninder Dhillon who hit a crucial unbeaten century
in the second innings against
Bermuda.
Both
three-day semi-finals will begin at 09.00 local time on Wednesday
17 November. |
