2022 Valletta Cup

2022 Valletta Cup
Dates10 – 15 May 2022
Administrator(s)Malta Cricket Association
Cricket formatTwenty20 International
Tournament format(s)Round-robin and final
Host(s) Malta
Champions Romania
Runners-up Malta
Participants6
Matches18
Player of the seriesRomania Taranjeet Singh
Most runsRomania Taranjeet Singh (357)
Most wicketsRomania Ijaz Hussain (11)
← 2021
2023 →

The 2022 Valletta Cup was a Twenty20 International (T20I) cricket tournament held in Malta between 10 and 15 May 2022.[1] It was the third edition of the Valletta Cup. The venue for the series was the Marsa Sports Club in Marsa.[2] The participating teams were the hosts Malta along with Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Gibraltar, Hungary and Romania.[3] Malta were the defending champions having defeated Switzerland in the final of the 2021 edition.[4] Bulgaria and Gibraltar returned after finishing the 2021 tournament in third and fourth places, respectively.[2] The Czech Republic and Hungary last featured in the 2019 Valletta Cup, in which the Czechs beat a Hungary XI in the final.[5]

In a round-robin game against Bulgaria, Gibraltar put on an unbeaten 213 runs for the first wicket, the fourth highest opening partnerships in men's T20Is.[6] Malta secured a place in the final on day three with a game to spare, after winning their first four matches.[7] Romania reached the final after a rapid run-chase against Gibraltar, and they went on to defeat the hosts by 9 runs in the final.[8][9]

Squads

 Bulgaria  Czech Republic[10]  Gibraltar[11]  Hungary  Malta  Romania
  • Prakash Mishra (c)
  • Jacob Albin
  • Kevin D'Souza
  • Aravinda De Silva
  • Vasil Hristov
  • Saim Hussain (wk)
  • Ivaylo Katzarski
  • Ahsan Khan
  • Hristo Lakov
  • Sandeep Nair
  • Dimo Nikolov
  • Karthik Pillai
  • Omar Rassol (wk)
  • Asad Ali Rehemtulla
  • Delrick Varghese
  • Arun Ashokan (c)
  • Naveed Ahmed
  • Sazib Bhuiyan
  • Shubhranshu Chaudhary
  • Sabawoon Davizi
  • Vyshakh Jagannivasan
  • Smit Patel
  • Sharan Ramakrishnan
  • Satyajit Sengupta
  • Divyendra Singh (wk)
  • Dylan Steyn
  • Ritik Tomar
  • Sudesh Wickramasekara
  • Avinash Pai (c)
  • Kieron Ferrary (vc)
  • Nikhil Advani
  • Samarth Bodha
  • Louis Bruce
  • Richard Cunningham
  • Mark Garratt
  • Mark Gouws
  • Richard Hatchman
  • Joseph Marples (wk)
  • Kenroy Nestor
  • Robin Petrie
  • Andrew Reyes
  • Christian Rocca
  • Zachary Simpson
  • Matthew Whelan
  • Abhijeet Ahuja (c)
  • Bhavani Adapaka
  • Abhishek Ahuja (wk)
  • Satyadeep Ashwathnarayana (wk)
  • Khaibar Deldar
  • Ali Farasat
  • Mark Fontaine
  • Abishek Kheterpal
  • Akramullah Malikzada
  • Harshvardhan Mandhyan
  • Zahir Mohammed
  • Sandeep Mohandas
  • Gabor Torok
  • Asanka Weligamage
  • Bikram Arora (c)
  • Amar Sharma (vc)
  • Waseem Abbas
  • Imran Ameer
  • Gopal Chaturvedi
  • Basil George
  • Heinrich Gericke (wk)
  • Jaison Jerome
  • Aaftab Alam Khan (wk)
  • Zeeshan Khan
  • Niraj Khanna
  • Divyes Kumar
  • Bilal Muhammad
  • Jitesh Patel
  • Justin Shaju
  • Samuel Stanislaus
  • Varun Thamotharam
  • Ramesh Satheesan (c)
  • Mihai Achim
  • Arun Chandrasekaran
  • Marian Gherasim
  • Ijaz Hussain
  • Senthilvel Karthikeyan
  • Aftab Kayani
  • Rajesh Kumar
  • Gaurav Mishra
  • Muhammad Moiz
  • Satvik Nadigotla (wk)
  • Sivakumar Periyalwar
  • Rajendra Pisal
  • Sukhkaran Sahi
  • Vasu Saini
  • Abdul Shakoor (wk)
  • Taranjeet Singh
  • Cosmin Zavoiu

The Czech Republic also named Kranthi Venkataswamy and Neeraj Tyagi as reserves.[10]

Round-robin

Points table

Pos Team Pld W L NR Pts NRR
1  Malta 5 5 0 0 10 1.014
2  Romania 5 3 2 0 6 1.498
3  Czech Republic 5 3 2 0 6 1.237
4  Hungary 5 3 2 0 6 −0.251
5  Gibraltar 5 1 4 0 2 −1.439
6  Bulgaria 5 0 5 0 0 −2.115
Source: ESPNcricinfo[12]
  •   Advanced to the final
  •   Advanced to the third-place play-off
  •   Advanced to the fifth-place play-off

Fixtures

10 May 2022
08:30
Scorecard
Gibraltar 
132/6 (20 overs)
v
 Malta
135/5 (16.5 overs)
Avinash Pai 42 (39)
Amar Sharma 2/24 (4 overs)
Basil George 36 (30)
Zachary Simpson 2/32 (2.5 overs)
Malta won by 5 wickets
Marsa Sports Club, Marsa
Umpires: Shubh Anand (Hun) and Sandeep Harnal (Can)
Player of the match: Basil George (Mlt)
  • Malta won the toss and elected to field.
  • Jaison Jerome (Mlt), Samarth Bodha, Mark Gouws, Zachary Simpson and Matthew Whelan (Gib) all made their T20I debuts.
10 May 2022
12:15
Scorecard
Malta 
206/7 (20 overs)
v
 Hungary
161/6 (20 overs)
Basil George 60 (36)
Asanka Weligamage 3/45 (4 overs)
Harshvardhan Mandhyan 41 (25)
Waseem Abbas 2/25 (4 overs)
Malta won by 45 runs
Marsa Sports Club, Marsa
Umpires: Sandeep Harnal (Can) and Ruban Sivanadian (Mlt)
Player of the match: Bikram Arora (Mlt)
  • Hungary won the toss and elected to field.
  • Bhavani Adapaka, Abhishek Ahuja, Ali Farasat and Akramullah Malikzada (Hun) all made their T20I debuts.
10 May 2022
15:45
Scorecard
Gibraltar 
137/8 (20 overs)
v
 Hungary
138/6 (18.4 overs)
Kieron Ferrary 24 (22)
Sandeep Mohandas 2/31 (4 overs)
Harshvardhan Mandhyan 29 (27)
Samarth Bodha 3/26 (3.4 overs)
Hungary won by 4 wickets
Marsa Sports Club, Marsa
Umpires: Shubh Anand (Hun) and Tim Wheeler (Mlt)
Player of the match: Harshvardhan Mandhyan (Hun)
  • Hungary won the toss and elected to field.
11 May 2022
08:30
Scorecard
Romania 
165/4 (20 overs)
v
 Malta
166/5 (19.3 overs)
Taranjeet Singh 63 (44)
Amar Sharma 1/33 (4 overs)
Basil George 37 (22)
Ijaz Hussain 2/25 (3 overs)
Malta won by 5 wickets
Marsa Sports Club, Marsa
Umpires: Shubh Anand (Hun) and Ruban Sivanadian (Mlt)
Player of the match: Basil George (Mlt)
  • Malta won the toss and elected to field.
  • Gaurav Mishra and Sukhkaran Sahi (Rom) both made their T20I debuts.
11 May 2022
12:00
Scorecard
Czech Republic 
184/5 (20 overs)
v
 Gibraltar
144/8 (20 overs)
Sabawoon Davizi 98* (61)
Kieron Ferrary 1/9 (3 overs)
Andrew Reyes 44 (41)
Sazib Bhuiyan 2/20 (3 overs)
Czech Republic won by 40 runs
Marsa Sports Club, Marsa
Umpires: Shubh Anand (Hun) and Andrew Naudi (Mlt)
Player of the match: Sabawoon Davizi (Cze)
  • Czech Republic won the toss and elected to bat.
  • Sazib Bhuiyan, Shubhranshu Chaudhary, Divyendra Singh, Dylan Steyn and Ritik Tomar (Cze) all made their T20I debuts.
11 May 2022
15:30
Scorecard
Hungary 
158/8 (20 overs)
v
 Bulgaria
153/9 (20 overs)
Abishek Kheterpal 42 (35)
Hristo Lakov 2/15 (4 overs)
Saim Hussain 54 (43)
Bhavani Adapaka 3/29 (4 overs)
Hungary won by 5 runs
Marsa Sports Club, Marsa
Umpires: Sandeep Harnal (Can) and Ruban Sivanadian (Mlt)
Player of the match: Abishek Kheterpal (Hun)
  • Bulgaria won the toss and elected to field.
  • Saim Hussain, Sandeep Nair (Bul) and Gabor Torok (Hun) all made their T20I debuts.
12 May 2022
08:30
Scorecard
Malta 
164/8 (20 overs)
v
 Czech Republic
162/9 (20 overs)
Basil George 51 (41)
Satyajit Sengupta 3/35 (4 overs)
Arun Ashokan 30 (17)
Amar Sharma 3/24 (3 overs)
Malta won by 2 runs
Marsa Sports Club, Marsa
Umpires: Shubh Anand (Hun) and Sandeep Harnal (Can)
Player of the match: Basil George (Mlt)
  • Czech Republic won the toss and elected to field.
  • Imran Ameer (Mlt) and Sharan Ramakrishnan (Cze) both made their T20I debuts.
12 May 2022
12:00
Scorecard
Czech Republic 
258/2 (20 overs)
v
 Bulgaria
170/7 (20 overs)
Sabawoon Davizi 115* (59)
Hristo Lakov 2/49 (4 overs)
Hristo Lakov 61 (51)
Naveed Ahmed 3/29 (4 overs)
Czech Republic won by 88 runs
Marsa Sports Club, Marsa
Umpires: Andrew Naudi (Mlt) and Ruban Sivanadian (Mlt)
Player of the match: Sabawoon Davizi (Cze)
  • Czech Republic won the toss and elected to bat.
  • Dylan Steyn (Cze) scored his first century in T20Is.[13]
12 May 2022
15:30
Scorecard
Romania 
158/7 (20 overs)
v
 Hungary
162/4 (17.3 overs)
Vasu Saini 47 (32)
Harshvardhan Mandhyan 3/30 (4 overs)
Zahir Mohammed 78 (42)
Ijaz Hussain 2/16 (3 overs)
Hungary won by 6 wickets
Marsa Sports Club, Marsa
Umpires: Shubh Anand (Hun) and Andrew Naudi (Mlt)
Player of the match: Zahir Mohammed (Hun)
  • Romania won the toss and elected to bat.
13 May 2022
08:30
Scorecard
Gibraltar 
213/0 (20 overs)
v
 Bulgaria
192/6 (20 overs)
Louis Bruce 99* (63)
Saim Hussain 64 (31)
Samarth Bodha 2/18 (3 overs)
Gibraltar won by 21 runs
Marsa Sports Club, Marsa
Umpires: Shubh Anand (Hun) and Ruban Sivanadian (Mlt)
Player of the match: Louis Bruce (Gib)
  • Gibraltar won the toss and elected to bat.
  • Karthik Pillai (Bul) and Christian Rocca (Gib) both made their T20I debuts.
  • The opening partnership for Gibraltar between Avinash Pai and Louis Bruce was the first time that a team had batted a full 20 overs without losing a wicket in a men's T20I.[14]
13 May 2022
12:00
Scorecard
Romania 
193/4 (20 overs)
v
 Czech Republic
167/9 (20 overs)
Taranjeet Singh 110 (61)
Naveed Ahmed 2/34 (4 overs)
Arun Ashokan 49 (40)
Ijaz Hussain 4/28 (4 overs)
Romania won by 26 runs
Marsa Sports Club, Marsa
Umpires: Sandeep Harnal (Can) and Tim Wheeler (Mlt)
Player of the match: Taranjeet Singh (Rom)
  • Romania won the toss and elected to bat.
  • Taranjeet Singh (Rom) scored his first century in T20Is.[13]
13 May 2022
15:30
Scorecard
Bulgaria 
131/7 (20 overs)
v
 Romania
132/2 (12.4 overs)
Kevin D'Souza 43 (33)
Ijaz Hussain 2/22 (4 overs)
Ramesh Satheesan 86* (43)
Delrick Varghese 1/7 (0.4 overs)
Romania won by 8 wickets
Marsa Sports Club, Marsa
Umpires: Shubh Anand (Hun) and Ruban Sivanadian (Mlt)
Player of the match: Ramesh Satheesan (Rom)
  • Bulgaria won the toss and elected to bat.
  • Senthilvel Karthikeyan (Rom) made his T20I debut.
14 May 2022
08:30
Scorecard
Hungary 
169/7 (20 overs)
v
 Czech Republic
175/3 (18.1 overs)
Abhishek Ahuja 61 (48)
Smit Patel 4/34 (4 overs)
Sudesh Wickramasekara 63 (41)
Bhavani Adapaka 1/38 (3.1 overs)
Czech Republic won by 7 wickets
Marsa Sports Club, Marsa
Umpires: Sandeep Harnal (Can) and Tim Wheeler (Mlt)
Player of the match: Arun Ashokan (Cze)
  • Hungary won the toss and elected to bat.
14 May 2022
12:00
Scorecard
Gibraltar 
141 (19.5 overs)
v
 Romania
142/2 (11.2 overs)
Avinash Pai 49 (40)
Ramesh Satheesan 3/37 (3 overs)
Taranjeet Singh 84* (35)
Richard Cunningham 1/28 (2.2 overs)
Romania won by 8 wickets
Marsa Sports Club, Marsa
Umpires: Ghose Roy (Mlt) and Ruban Sivanadian (Mlt)
Player of the match: Ramesh Satheesan (Rom)
  • Gibraltar won the toss and elected to bat.
14 May 2022
15:30
Scorecard
Bulgaria 
204/4 (20 overs)
v
 Malta
205/4 (18.2 overs)
Saim Hussain 108* (55)
Imran Ameer 2/41 (4 overs)
Aaftab Alam Khan 71* (38)
Hristo Lakov 2/44 (4 overs)
Malta won by 6 wickets
Marsa Sports Club, Marsa
Umpires: Shubh Anand (Hun) and Sandeep Harnal (Can)
Player of the match: Saim Hussain (Bul)
  • Bulgaria won the toss and elected to bat.
  • Divyes Kumar and Jitesh Patel (Mlt) both made their T20I debuts.
  • Saim Hussain (Bul) scored his first century in T20Is.[13]

Fifth-place play-off

15 May 2022
09:00
Scorecard
Gibraltar 
170/6 (20 overs)
v
 Bulgaria
171/5 (19.5 overs)
Balaji Pai 53* (44)
Asad Ali Rehemtulla 2/25 (4 overs)
Aravinda De Silva 41 (32)
Kieron Ferrary 2/30 (4 overs)
Bulgaria won by 5 wickets
Marsa Sports Club, Marsa
Umpires: Shubh Anand (Hun) and Ghose Roy (Mlt)
Player of the match: Kevin D'Souza (Bul)
  • Gibraltar won the toss and elected to bat.

Third-place play-off

15 May 2022
12:30
Scorecard
Czech Republic 
221/5 (20 overs)
v
 Hungary
151/6 (20 overs)
Dylan Steyn 65 (41)
Bhavani Adapaka 1/26 (3 overs)
Abhijeet Ahuja 75 (52)
Sazib Bhuiyan 2/29 (4 overs)
Czech Republic won by 70 runs
Marsa Sports Club, Marsa
Umpires: Ghose Roy (Mlt) and Tim Wheeler (Mlt)
Player of the match: Dylan Steyn (Cze)
  • Hungary won the toss and elected to field.

Final

15 May 2022
16:30
Scorecard
Romania 
171/6 (20 overs)
v
 Malta
162/7 (20 overs)
Vasu Saini 60* (42)
Waseem Abbas 2/35 (4 overs)
Imran Ameer 28* (23)
Taranjeet Singh 4/20 (4 overs)
Romania won by 9 runs
Marsa Sports Club, Marsa
Umpires: Shubh Anand (Hun) and Sandeep Harnal (Can)
Player of the match: Taranjeet Singh (Rom)
  • Romania won the toss and elected to bat.

References

  1. ^ "Valetta Cup underway in Malta". CricketEurope. Archived from the original on 26 September 2022. Retrieved 10 May 2022.
  2. ^ a b "Malta Cricket to host 6-Nation Men's Valetta Cup in May 2022". Czarsportz. Retrieved 14 March 2022.
  3. ^ "Gibraltar faced double defeat on first day". Gibraltar Chronicle. Retrieved 11 May 2022.
  4. ^ "Malta crowned 2021 Valletta Cup champions". Emerging Cricket. Retrieved 31 October 2021.
  5. ^ @MaltaCricket (20 October 2019). "Czech Republic crowned champions of the 2019 Valletta Cup" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  6. ^ "Gibraltar cricket has produced another victory against Bulgaria". Gibraltar Chronicle. Retrieved 13 May 2022.
  7. ^ "Big hitting Czechs highlight day three in Malta". CricketEurope. Archived from the original on 26 September 2022. Retrieved 12 May 2022.
  8. ^ "Romania win Valletta Cup". CricketEurope. Archived from the original on 15 May 2022. Retrieved 15 May 2022.
  9. ^ "Romania the champions of 2022 Valletta Cup". Cricket Romania. Retrieved 17 May 2022.
  10. ^ a b @CzechCricket (7 April 2022). "Announcing the Czech men's national team squad for the Valetta Cup, Malta May 10 - 15th" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  11. ^ "Gibraltar Cricket announces squad for Valletta Cup". Gibraltar Chronicle. Retrieved 22 April 2022.
  12. ^ "Valletta Cup 2022". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 14 May 2022.
  13. ^ a b c "Centuries in Twenty20 International cricket – innings by innings". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 12 May 2022.
  14. ^ "Rocca Gibraltar still standing". CricketEurope. Retrieved 14 May 2022.