2022 Valletta Cup

International cricket tournament

2022 Valletta Cup
Dates	10 – 15 May 2022
Administrator(s)	Malta Cricket Association
Cricket format	Twenty20 International
Tournament format(s)	Round-robin and final
Host(s)	Malta
Champions	Romania
Runners-up	Malta
Participants	6
Matches	18
Player of the series	Taranjeet Singh
Most runs	Taranjeet Singh (357)
Most wickets	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	Pts	NRR
1	Malta	5	5	0	10	1.014
2	Romania	5	3	2	6	1.498
3	Czech Republic	5	3	2	6	1.237
4	Hungary	5	3	2	6	−0.251
5	Gibraltar	5	1	4	2	−1.439
6	Bulgaria	5	0	5	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

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