The 2021 Continental Cup was a Twenty20 International (T20I) cricket tournament that took place at the Moara Vlasiei Cricket Ground in Ilfov County, Romania, in the first week of September 2021.[1] Austria won the previous edition in 2019,[2] but did not return to defend the title in 2021. The participating nations were the hosts Romania, along with Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Hungary, Luxembourg and Malta.[1] Hungary played their first ever official men's T20I match during the tournament.[3] The teams were split into two groups, with the top two in each group progressing to the semi-finals.
| Dates | 2 – 5 September 2021 |
|---|---|
| Administrator(s) | Cricket Romania |
| Cricket format | Twenty20 International |
| Tournament format(s) | Group round-robin and play-offs |
| Host(s) |  Romania |
| Champions | Romania |
| Runners-up |  Luxembourg |
| Participants | 6 |
| Matches | 11 |
| Most runs |  Zeeshan Kukikhel (263) |
| Most wickets | Vikram Vijh (9) |
Luxembourg topped Group A to set up a semi-final against Hungary, while Romania earned a semi-final against Malta after winning Group B.[4] Luxembourg and Romania advanced to the final by winning their semi-final matches, while the Czech Republic finished in fifth place after defeating Bulgaria in a play-off.[5] On the last day of the tournament, Romania defeated Luxembourg in the final by 33 runs, before Hungary secured third place with a comfortable eight-wicket win over Malta.[6]
Squads edit
 Bulgaria
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 Czech Republic[7]
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Hungary[8]
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Luxembourg[9]
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 Malta[10]
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Romania[11]
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|---|---|---|---|---|---|
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Group stage edit
Group A edit
| Teams[12] | P | W | L | T | NR | Pts | NRR | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Luxembourg
|
2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | +1.692 | Advanced to the semi-finals |
| Malta
|
2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | +1.484 | |
| Bulgaria
|
2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | –3.549 | Advanced to the 5th place playoff |
v
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Timothy Barker 78 (59)
Mukul Kadyan 2/34 (4 overs) |
Kevin D'Souza 31 (19)
Mohit Dixit 3/19 (4 overs) |
- Bulgaria won the toss and elected to field.
- Vasil Hristov, Mukul Kadyan, Omar Rassol (Bul) and Amit Halbhavi (Lux) all made their T20I debuts.
v
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Varun Thamotharam 28 (22)
Vikram Vijh 4/19 (3 overs) |
Tony Whiteman 55* (54)
Bilal Muhammad 2/22 (4 overs) |
- Luxembourg won the toss and elected to field.
- Amit Dhingra (Lux) and Basil George (Mlt) both made their T20I debuts.
v
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Hristo Lakov 62* (60)
Bilal Muhammad 4/10 (4 overs) |
Bikram Arora 49* (39)
Hristo Lakov 2/30 (4 overs) |
- Bulgaria won the toss and elected to bat.
Group B edit
| Teams[12] | P | W | L | T | NR | Pts | NRR | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Romania
|
2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | +1.075 | Advanced to the semi-finals |
| Hungary
|
2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | –0.075 | |
| Czech Republic
|
2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | –1.000 | Advanced to the 5th place playoff |
v
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Zeeshan Kukikhel 75 (49)
Kayul Mehta 3/18 (3 overs) |
Sudesh Wickramasekara 58 (41)
Zeeshan Kukikhel 2/27 (3 overs) |
- Czech Republic won the toss and elected to field.
- Vyshakh Jagannivasan, Kayul Mehta (Cze), Abhijeet Ahuja, Satyadeep Ashwathnarayana, Khaibar Deldar, Abishek Kheterpal, Zeeshan Kukikhel, Nishanta Liyanage, Harshvardhan Mandhyan, Zahir Mohammed, Sandeep Mohandas, Asanka Weligamage and Ali Yalmaz (Hun) all made their T20I debuts.
v
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Satvik Nadigotla 38 (23)
Kyle Gilham 2/34 (4 overs) |
Arun Ashokan 51 (30)
Sami Ullah 3/30 (4 overs) |
- Romania won the toss and elected to bat.
v
|
||
Ramesh Satheesan 76 (41)
Harshvardhan Mandhyan 3/33 (4 overs) |
Zeeshan Kukikhel 76 (41)
Asif Bevinje 5/30 (4 overs) |
- Romania won the toss and elected to bat.
- Mark Fontaine and Sanjay Kumar (Hun) both made their T20I debuts.
- Asif Bevinje became the first bowler for Romania to take a five-wicket haul in men's T20Is.[13]
Playoffs edit
5th place playoff edit
v
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Hristo Lakov 64* (58)
Naveed Ahmed 3/17 (4 overs) |
Vyshakh Jagannivasan 55 (41)
Jacob Albin 1/20 (2 overs) |
- Bulgaria won the toss and elected to bat.
- Akshay Harikumar (Bul) made his T20I debut.
Semi-finals edit
1st Semi-final edit
v
|
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Joost Mees 43 (29)
Zeeshan Kukikhel 3/37 (4 overs) |
Satyadeep Ashwathnarayana 41* (19)
Vikram Vijh 3/21 (3.3 overs) |
- Hungary won the toss and elected to field.
2nd Semi-final edit
v
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Taranjeet Singh 91 (57)
Waseem Abbas 5/37 (4 overs) |
Bikram Arora 42 (38)
Pavel Florin 2/3 (1 over) |
- Malta won the toss and elected to field.
- Waseem Abbas became the first bowler for Malta to take a five-wicket haul in men's T20Is.[14]
3rd place playoff edit
v
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Basil George 48 (46)
Abishek Kheterpal 2/35 (4 overs) Zeeshan Kukikhel 2/35 (4 overs) |
Zeeshan Kukikhel 82 (42)
Bikram Arora 1/19 (3.2 overs) |
- Hungary won the toss and elected to field.
Final edit
v
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Satvik Nadigotla 55 (38)
Vikram Vijh 2/24 (3.5 overs) |
Advyth Manepalli 22 (19)
Aftab Kayani 2/7 (2 overs) |
- Romania won the toss and elected to bat.
References edit
- ^ a b "Czech Republic men's squad announced for 6-nation Continental Cup in Romania". Czarsportz. Retrieved 27 July 2021.
- ^ "Austria triumphant in 5-nation Continental T20I Cup in Romania". Czarsportz. Retrieved 1 September 2019.
- ^ "Two wins for Luxembourg as Continental Cup underway". Cricket Europe. Archived from the original on 2 September 2021. Retrieved 3 September 2021.
- ^ "Continental Cup continues in Romania". Cricket Europe. Archived from the original on 3 September 2021. Retrieved 3 September 2021.
- ^ "Romania win Continental Cup". Cricket Europe. Archived from the original on 4 September 2021. Retrieved 5 September 2021.
- ^ "Luxembourg and Romania to face off in Continental Cup final". Cricket Europe. Archived from the original on 5 September 2021. Retrieved 4 September 2021.
- ^ @CzechCricket (27 July 2021). "Czech Men's National Team for the Continental Cup Sep 1 - 6 2021" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
- ^ "Happy to announce the National squad travelling to Romania to compete in intercontinental cup". Hungarian Cricket (via Facebook). Retrieved 24 August 2021.
- ^ "Luxembourg men's squad announced for 6-nation Continental Cup T20I event". Czarsportz. Retrieved 1 August 2021.
- ^ "Malta men's squad announced for Continental Cup in Romania". Czarsportz. Retrieved 1 September 2021.
- ^ "Meet Romania's men's squad participating in the Continental Cricket Cup, at Moara Vlasiei, Romania between 02 and 05 September, 2021". Cricket Romania (via Facebook). Retrieved 31 August 2021.
- ^ a b "Continental Cup 2021 Table". ESPN Cricinfo. Retrieved 9 September 2021.
- ^ "23-year-old bowler spewed 'fire', took 5 wickets for the first time in T20 match". News NCR. Retrieved 4 September 2021.
- ^ "Global Game: Romania crowned Continental Cup champions with record T20I wins". International Cricket Council. Retrieved 6 September 2021.
External links edit
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