Coll in semis after epic match Scotland, Bangladesh through
WELLINGTON: Greymouth squash player Paul Coll has come back from two match balls down to earn a spot in the semifinals of the Qatar Classic in Doha.
Coll and Egypt’s Mohamed Abouelghar faced off in an epic 93minute battle, with Coll finally winning an 115, 411, 1012, 1210, 118 to earn his spot in the last four.
"It was an enjoyable match to be a part of and it was high quality," said world number three Coll.
"I was a little bit disappointed with some of the leads I had throughout the match, especially the third, when I didn’t close it out. Things kept going the wrong way for me, so it was a real mental battle for me. At the start of the fourth, I went down 61, I thought I was playing good squash but not winning rallies.
"I had to really stick to it mentally, dig deep and push through. I felt like it was close to me playing well and running away with it, there were a few leads here and there and a few shots that didn’t go my way. But I’m very happy to close it out and I’m looking forward to tomorrow," said 29yearold Coll.
Coll was to take on either Mostafa Asal or Tarek Momen in the semifinals today. — RNZ
DUBAI: Scotland thumped Twenty20 World Cup cohost Oman to storm into the tournament's Super 12 stage, along with Bangladesh, which thrashed Papua New Guinea in Muscat yesterday.
Scotland's eightwicket victory was its third win in three preliminaryround matches as Kyle Coetzer's side topped Group B ahead of the team it beat in its opening game — Bangladesh.
Josh Davey (three for 25) led Scotland's disciplined bowling as it restricted Oman to a belowpar 122 despite cameos by Aqib Ilyas (37) and Zeeshan Maqsood (34).
Coetzer laid the foundation for Scotland's victory with a rapid 41 before Richie Berrington and Matthew Cross (26 not out) completed the chase with three overs to spare.
Berrington, who made 31 not out, sealed the win with his third six.
Allrounder Shakib Al Hasan and skipper Mahmudullah inspired Bangladesh to an 80run rout of PNG.
Bangladesh lost Mohammad Naim to the second delivery but Shakib, who made 46, helped rebuild its innings.
Mahmudullah then tore into the modest PNG attack, clobbering three sixes and as many fours in his 28ball 50.
Mohammad Saifuddin smashed 19 off six balls as Bangladesh plundered 68 runs in the last five overs.
It maintained the momentum when it returned to defend the total, aided by superb catching, as Saifuddin trapped Lega Siaka lbw and PNG collapsed to 29 for seven in the 11th over.
Shakib (four for 9) ran through their middle order and went on to equal Shahid Afridi's tournament record of 39 wickets.
Kiplin Doriga was stranded on 46 as PNG was bundled out for 92 in 19.3 overs to succumb to its third defeat. — Reuters