ICC World Cup Qualifiers 2018 - Day 4 Round up

Despite all the humiliating defeats they had to suffer, Afghanistan managed to move to the next stages of the ICC World Cup Qualifiers. Alongside Scotland and Zimbabwe, who played an absolute scorcher today, the Afghanistan will be heading to the Super Sixes of the tournament. The Netherlands succumbed badly in a must-win game, resulting in their knock out.

In the game between the Windies and Netherlands, the former batted first. Evin Lewis and Chris Gayle gave them a blazing start, accumulating 90 runs in the powerplay. Marlon Samuels and Rovman Powell chipped in with crucial knocks in the middle order as well, which powered them to 309 runs in 48 overs.

In this rain-marred game, the Dutch were never really in contention to get the batter of the Caribbean flair. Wesley Barresi and the experienced Ryan ten Doeschate tonked 50s which kept their fight alive for a little while. But rain gods once again visited Harare, to end the Holland innings at 167/6 in 28.4 overs. The match was eventually put to bed and Windies won by 54 runs by D/L method.

Nepal registered a stunning victory against an experienced Hong Kong unit. The hot prospect in the IPL, Sandeep Lamichhane registered figures of 3/17 in 10 overs to bowl Hong Kong out for 153. Basant Regmi chipped in with a brace as well. Although they lost a few wickets, Rohit Kumar and Sompal Kami ensured they got over the line sooner than expected. Nepal won this game by 5 wickets with 56 balls to spare.

An enthralling contest at Bulawayo

Probably one of the best games of this World Cup Qualifiers was played in Bulawayo between the hosts Zimbabwe and Scotland. The Scottish contingent has been terrific this time around, registering victories against a few top sides like Afghanistan.

They did well to restrict Zimbabwe to 210 runs in their first innings. Brendan Taylor chipped in with a 44 off 54 balls whilst Craig Ervine smacked a fifty. Safyaan Sharif picked up a five-fer for the Scottish, whilst Michael Leask returned with figures of 4/37.

Scotland were in a precarious situation at one point, losing 4 wickets for 69 runs. Skipper Coetzer and Berrington stitched an important partnership at this point to help them get close. Once again they lost two quick wickets in the 35th and 37th overs with the scorecard not touching 150. It got very tight towards the end and Blessing Muzarabani ensured he picked his only wicket of the game at the right moment. The game finished in a tie as they too scored 210 runs.

William Porterfield and Paul Stirling were in full flow as the Irish side battered UAE out of the tournament. It was clinical and comprehensive from them as the openers added 205 runs for the first wicket. Porterfield was dismissed just 8 runs short of a hundred, but Stirling got to 126 off 117 balls. Kevin O’Brien chipped in with a quickfire fifty to help his side notch 313 runs for the loss of 6 wickets.

Boyd Rankin and Simi Singh were breathing fire with the ball as they knocked the UAE batsmen out for a paltry 91 runs in 29.3 overs. Rankin registered figures of 4/15, whilst Singh came out with a brilliant 3/15. Ireland won this game by a whopping 226 runs.

Brief Scores

Ireland vs UAE, Group A

Ireland: 313/6 in 44 overs (William Porterfield 92, Paul Stirling 126, Kevin O Brien 50)

UAE: 91 all out in 29.3 overs (Boyd Rankin 4/15, Simi Singh 3/15)

Player of the match: Paul Stirling

Windies vs Netherlands, Group A

Windies: 309/6 in 48 overs (Evin Lewis 84, Marlon Samuels 73, Rovman Powell 52)

Netherlands: 167/6 in 28.4 overs (Wesley Barresi 64, Ryan ten Doeschate 67*; Ashley Nurse 1/25)

Player of the match: Evin Lewis

Hong Kong vs Nepal, Group B

Hong Kong: 153 all out in 48.2 overs (Nizakat Khan 47; Sandeep Lamichhane 3/17, Basant Regmi 2/20)

Nepal: 155/5 in 40.4 overs (Rohit Kumar 48*, Sompal Kami 37*)

Player of the match: Rohit Kumar

Zimbabwe vs Scotland, Group B

Zimbabwe: 210 all out in 46.4 overs (Craig Ervine 57, Brendan Taylor 44; Safiyaan Sharif 5/35)

Scotland: 210 all out in 49.1 overs (Richie Berrington 47; Tendai Chisoro 3/42, Graeme Cremer 3/21)

Player of the match: Safiyaan Sharif