It’s all gloomy for Afghanistan

AFGHANISTAN’S dreams of qualifying for the second successive ICC Cricket World Cup were left hanging by a thread when Hong Kong defeated them by 30 runs on the Duckworth-Lewis-Stern Method in a Group B fixture in Bulawayo yesterday.

Defending champions Scotland became the first side to progress to the Super Six after notching up their third successive victory.

Elsewhere, the Windies were given a run for their money before beating PNG by six wickets and the United Arab Emirates won their second match in three outings when they handed the Netherlands their second successive defeat.

After batsmen-dominated proceedings on Tuesday with as many as five centuries and five half-centuries, honours were shared yesterday with the Windies’ fast bowler Carlos Braithwaite returning career-best figures of 10-2-27-5 and captain Jason Holder scoring 99 not out against PNG.

The UAE captain Rohan Mustafa recorded figures of 9.3-2-26-5 with his off-spinners which was followed by a classy 78 not out by Chirag Suri against the Netherlands, Coetzer hitting a match-winning 88 not out against Nepal and Hong Kong off-spinner Ehsan Khan taking four for 33 against Afghanistan.

Afghanistan, chasing 242 for victory, were 167 for seven when rain stopped play and resulted in a loss of four overs.

The target was revised to 226 runs in 46 overs, but it proved too much for the lower-order which managed only 28 runs as Afghanistan finished at 195 for nine.