Bilal Zalmai breaks the chase
Bilal Zalmai’s three-wicket spell was the hinge in a stop-start contest as Austria won by 15 runs on DLS. After Austria’s rain-trimmed 79/2 in 11.4 overs, Norway began their pursuit with enough intent to stay in touch, but Zalmai’s control through the middle overs repeatedly reset the chase. When the required rate climbed, Norway’s late hitting never quite bridged the DLS gap.
Austria’s middle-overs surge
Austria won the game in the middle phase of their innings, where they rocketed from a quiet powerplay to a decisive platform. They crawled to 20/1 in the first six, then Karanbir Singh took over, lifting the tempo in the next 5.4 overs as Austria piled on 59 runs for no further loss. The 66-run stand between Karanbir and Irfan Safi flipped the innings from scratchy to competitive, ensuring Austria had enough on the board once DLS came into play.
Karanbir and bowlers deliver
Karanbir’s 47 off 35 (SR 134) was the only truly fluent innings of the match, setting up Austria’s DLS cushion. Zalmai then led the defence with 3/26, using pace changes to deny boundary bursts. Baseer Khan (2/20) and Mohammad Waqar Zalmai (2/21) backed him up with disciplined spells that turned Norway’s chase into a series of short-lived recoveries.
Norway kept finding resistance
Norway’s chase had moments of stability, especially through a 31-run partnership between Mohammad Saif-Ul Islam and Walid Ghauri that steadied them after early losses. They were 38/2 in the powerplay and still moving at a workable clip in the middle, but Austria’s bowlers kept forcing new batters to start again. A key moment came when Zalmai struck in the middle overs, breaking a developing stand and dragging the run-rate pressure back onto Norway.
SWSweden
165/6
AUAustria
90/10
AUAustria
72/10
NONorway
150/8
FIFinland
89/4
AUAustria
86/10
DEGermany
216/5
AUAustria
213/9
DEGermany
170/6
AUAustria
122/8
DEGermany
211/9
AUAustria
212/3
DEGermany
165/6
AUAustria
163/7
DEGermany
308/1
AUAustria
146/10
AUAustria
106/2
NONorway
105/10
AUAustria
168/4
FRFrance
162/6
AU2NO1NONorway
143/9
FIFinland
177/7
AUAustria
72/10
NONorway
150/8
SWSweden
138/5
NONorway
137/9
AUAustria
106/2
NONorway
105/10
SWSweden
156/10
NONorway
179/4
FRFrance
116/7
NONorway
138/5
AUAustria
92/6
NONorway
87/10
PRPortugal
189/8
NONorway
135/9
PRPortugal
138/6
NONorway
137/7
PRPortugal
115/10
NONorway
154/6