Belgian cricket team in Malta in 2021

Belgian cricket team in Malta in 2021
	Malta	Belgium
Dates	8 – 10 July 2021
Captains	Bikram Arora	Shaheryar Butt[n 1]
Twenty20 International series
Results	Belgium won the 5-match series 3–2
Most runs	Heinrich Gericke (89)	Hadisullah Tarakhel (154)
Most wickets	Waseem Abbas (11)	Burman Niaz (8)
Player of the series	Burman Niaz (Bel)

The Belgium cricket team toured Malta in July 2021 to play five Twenty20 International (T20I) matches at the Marsa Sports Club in Marsa.^[1][2] The Maltese team had been due to play a four-match series in Belgium in 2021,^[3] but this was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.^[4] As preparation for the series, the Belgium team were scheduled to play four T20 exhibition games against the Netherlands A cricket team in June 2021,^[5] but these matches were later cancelled.^[6] Malta were declared winners of the fourth T20I after five penalty runs were retrospectively added to their total.^[7][8] Belgium won the series 3–2.^[9]

Squads

Malta[10]	Belgium[11]
Bikram Arora (c) Waseem Abbas Sujesh Appu Samuel Aquilina Ashok Bishnoi Gopal Chaturvedi Heinrich Gericke (wk) Zeeshan Khan Niraj Khanna Haroon Mughal Bilal Muhammad Amar Sharma Ravinder Singh Samuel Stanislaus Varun Thamotharam	Shaheryar Butt (c) Khalid Ahmadi Saqlain Ali Murid Ekrami Said Hakim Sazzad Hosen Syed Jamil (wk) Mamoon Latif Nemish Mehta Sherul Mehta (wk) Muhammad Muneeb Burhan Niaz Ashiqullah Said Sheraz Sheikh Hadisullah Tarakhel Wahidullah Usmani Saber Zakhil

T20I series

1st T20I

8 July 2021 09:30 Scorecard

Belgium  99 (20 overs)	v	Malta 103/4 (16.2 overs)
Muhammad Muneeb 30 (44) Waseem Abbas 3/22 (4 overs)		Niraj Khanna 35* (24) Ashiqullah Said 2/27 (4 overs)

Malta won by 6 wickets Marsa Sports Club, Marsa Umpires: Abdul Rahman (Mlt) and Tim Wheeler (Mlt) Player of the match: Niraj Khanna (Mlt)

• Belgium won the toss and elected to bat.
• Ashok Bishnoi, Bilal Muhammad (Mlt) and Hadisullah Tarakhel (Bel) all made their T20I debuts.
• Waseem Abbas became the first bowler for Malta to take a hat-trick in T20Is.^[12]

2nd T20I

8 July 2021 14:30 Scorecard

Malta  50 (13 overs)	v	Belgium 52/0 (5.3 overs)
Varun Thamotharam 15 (14) Burhan Niaz 4/8 (4 overs)		Hadisullah Tarakhel 45* (21)

Belgium won by 10 wickets Marsa Sports Club, Marsa Umpires: Abdul Rahman (Mlt) and Ghose Roy (Mlt) Player of the match: Burhan Niaz (Bel)

• Malta won the toss and elected to bat.
• Said Hakim, Burhan Niaz and Sheraz Sheikh (Bel) all made their T20I debuts.

3rd T20I

9 July 2021 13:00 Scorecard

Malta  114/9 (20 overs)	v	Belgium 115/6 (18.3 overs)
Samuel Stanislaus 35 (42) Sheraz Sheikh 3/22 (3 overs)		Saber Zakhil 32 (19) Bilal Muhammad 2/21 (4 overs)

Belgium won by 4 wickets Marsa Sports Club, Marsa Umpires: Aaftab Alam Khan (Mlt) and Ghose Roy (Mlt) Player of the match: Sheraz Sheikh (Bel)

• Belgium won the toss and elected to field.
• Sheraz Sheikh became the first bowler for Belgium to take a hat-trick in T20Is.^[12]

4th T20I

10 July 2021 09:30 Scorecard

Belgium  128 (19.3 overs)	v	Malta 130 (19.2 overs)
Sherul Mehta 40 (56) Waseem Abbas 4/23 (4 overs)		Samuel Stanislaus 34 (35) Ashiqullah Said 3/21 (4 overs)

Malta won by penalty runs Marsa Sports Club, Marsa Umpires: Aaftab Alam Khan (Mlt) and Ghose Roy (Mlt) Player of the match: Bilal Muhammad (Mlt)

• Belgium won the toss and elected to bat.
• Malta were awarded five penalty runs after being bowled out in the second innings due to a breach of the code of conduct by Belgium captain Shaheryar Butt.^[13][14][15]

5th T20I

10 July 2021 14:30 Scorecard

Belgium  172/6 (20 overs)	v	Malta 133 (18.4 overs)
Hadisullah Tarakhel 78 (40) Waseem Abbas 2/23 (4 overs)		Heinrich Gericke 55 (33) Saber Zakhil 3/28 (4 overs)

Belgium won by 39 runs Marsa Sports Club, Marsa Umpires: Aaftab Alam Khan (Mlt) and Abdul Rahman (Mlt) Player of the match: Saber Zakhil (Bel)

• Belgium won the toss and elected to bat.

Notes

1. Nemish Mehta captained Belgium for the fifth T20I.

References

1. "More T20Is on the horizon in Europe". Cricket Europe. Archived from the original on 24 June 2021. Retrieved 24 June 2021.
2. @CricketBelgium (16 June 2021). "Media Announcement from the BCF Management" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
3. "Belgium announces three T20I series". Emerging Cricket. 22 February 2021. Retrieved 23 February 2021.
4. ""Belgium on the Global and European Cricket Map" by Corey Rutgers". Czarsportz (via YouTube). Retrieved 16 April 2021.
5. "Selection announced of Dutch 'A' men's cricket team against Belgium". Royal Dutch Cricket Association. Retrieved 19 June 2021.^{[permanent dead link‍]}
6. "Due to various circumstances the four match T20 series between Koninklijke Nederlandse Cricket Bond (KNCB) Netherlands "A" and Belgium has been cancelled". Belgium Cricket Federation (via Facebook). Retrieved 22 June 2021.
7. "Belgium beat Malta in controversial T20I Series". Emerging Cricket. Retrieved 14 July 2021.
8. "Controversy in Malta as Belgium win series". Cricket Europe. Archived from the original on 12 July 2021. Retrieved 12 July 2021.
9. "Series Review - Malta vs Belgium". European Cricket Network. Retrieved 11 July 2021.
10. "Malta will take on Belgium in 5 T20i international matches at the Marsa Oval in Malta from 8 - 10 July 2021". Malta Cricket Association (via Facebook). Retrieved 22 June 2021.
11. "Malta to host Belgium in home T20I series in July 2021". Czarsportz. Retrieved 30 June 2021.
12. "List of hat tricks in T20Is". ESPN Cricinfo. Retrieved 12 July 2021.
13. Gardner, Ben (10 July 2021). "Malta-Belgium T20I result overturned after Belgian captain reportedly abuses and threatens umpire". Wisden. Retrieved 22 December 2024. A T20I between Malta and Belgium was decided in unprecedented circumstances, with Malta bowled out three runs short of their target, only for the match officials to award five penalty runs to reverse the result.
14. Sawant, Sanika (11 July 2021). "Belgium Skipper Threatens Umpire In T20I vs Malta;Result Overturned". cricfit. Retrieved 22 December 2024.
15. "Malta vs Belgium T20I decided by Penalty Runs". Emerging Cricket. Retrieved 10 July 2021.

External links

• Series home at ESPN Cricinfo