USA 250 for 7 (Jones 103*, Walsh 57, Smit 5-66) beat Namibia 248 (Erasmus 92, Bredenkamp 55, Khan 5-46) by two runs
Fast bowler Ali Khan produced his maiden List A five-wicket haul for USA just when they needed it most as his two wickets in the Powerplay were bookended by three more at the death to rally USA to a two-run win over Namibia at Wanderers. The tournaments hosts needed 14 off 12 balls with four wickets in hand when Khan took the ball for his final over in the 49th but he struck three times to turn the match on its head.
Namibia's last-recognized batsman in Christi Viljoen was the first to go in the sequence, pinned in front by a yorker missing a flick across the line for 30. Jan Frylinck put Namibia back in front carving a full toss through cover for four to bring the equation down to seven off eight balls. But Khan struck back bowling him with a full length delivery next ball before Bernard Scholtz ended the 49th skying a drive to Steven Taylor at wide mid-off leaving seven to get by the last pair off the final over bowled by captain Saurabh Netravalkar.
After two singles to start the over, Zhivago Groenewald pushed to Taylor at extra cover for a non-existent single but Taylor's throw from eight yards not only missed the stumps at the non-striker's end but went for an overthrow to make it three from three needed. However, Groenewald lost his composure on the next ball, setting off when pushing straight back to Netravalkar in his follow-through who underhanded from five yards into the stumps with Groenewald nowhere close.
The drama followed a pair of outstanding knocks on a flat batting wicket as Aaron Jones paced USA's first innings with a chanceless unbeaten 103, his first century for USA. JJ Smit helped pin back USA at the other end claiming 5 for 63.
After Khan began the chase dismissing both openers inside five overs, Namibia captain Gerhard Erasmus put Namibia into a dominant position with 92 as part of a 149-run third-wicket stand with Jean Bredenkamp, who made 55. But Netravalkar dismissed both in consecutive overs in the 36th and 38th, setting the stage for the wild finish.
Oman 285 for 7 (Maqsood 109, Ilyas 86, Eranga 3-57) beat Canada 186 (Kumar 57, Fayyaz 3-29) by 99 runs
Oman captain Zeeshan Maqsood scored the second century of the day on the adjacent ground at Affies Park, propelling Oman to a 2-0 start as his side comfortably beat Canada by 99 runs, leaving them the only winless side in the competition after the first two days. Maqsood added 126 with Aqib Ilyas after coming together at 62 for 2 after 15 overs to put their side into a commanding position.
Ilyas scored at better than a run a ball for the majority of his innings but slowed down considerably as he neared a century and eventually offered a return catch to the part-time medium pace of Navneet Dhaliwal in the 39th over. Maqsood kicked on though to three figures, reaching the landmark off 98 balls. He finally fell slogging to long-off in the final over but by that stage he'd given Oman more than enough to defend.
Bilal Khan had Ruvindu Gunasekera caught behind off the second ball of the chase but Canada fought back behind a half-century from Nitish Kumar at No. 3. At 104 for 3 in the 22nd, Canada were still in a reasonable position but medium pace allrounder Sandeep Goud removed Kumar and then Bhavindu Adhihetty before fellow allrounder Mohammad Nadeem took the prized scalp of captain Davy Jacobs and at 139 for 5, Canada's tail could not muster up a fight to get them back into the match.
Papua New Guinea 223 for 7 (Ura 87, Ehsan 4-36) beat Hong Kong 222 for 9 (Rath 36, Frylinck 3-16, Williams 3-25, Smit 3-34) by three wickets
In a scoring battle waged by opening batsmen, Tony Ura outdueled Hong Kong captain Anshy Rath as Papua New Guinea notched their first win of the event in tense fashion to beat Hong Kong by three wickets at United CC.
Rath gave Hong Kong an outstanding platform after his side were sent in, scoring 85 off 98 balls including a pair of half-century stands with Kinchit Shah and Ahsan Abbasi. But from 155 for 2 in the 34th over, Rath's wicket at the hands of Nosaina Pokana sparked a dramatic slide for Hong Kong. Ex-captain Babar Hayat fell for 11 to the legspin of Charles Amini and Hong Kong added just 48 off the last 10 overs to settle for a below par 222.
Ura bolted out of the gates in the chase for PNG, swatting Tanvir Afzal's medium pace for a pair of sixes in the first over and needed just 40 balls to reach a half-century. Ura added 71 for the first wicket with Sese Bau across the first 15 overs to put PNG on course for victory before falling at the end of the 31st over to Ehsan Khan, who triggered a middle-order slide to bring Hong Kong back in it with four wickets.
But at 163 for 6, Hong Kong couldn't finish off the tail. Chad Soper and Jason Kila held their nerve to add 58 for the seventh wicket before Soper fell with two needed to win. No. 8 batsman Kila saw PNG across the line, ending unbeaten on 36 off 42 balls.