Canada beat Uganda in World T20 qualifier

Abu Dhabi - Two Canadian bowlers were instrumental in putting three defeats behind them when they registered a 44-run victory over Uganda in their Group A match of the ICC World Cup Twenty20 qualifiers here.

Fast medium bowler Jeremy Gordon claimed 2/9 and offie Abzal Dean 2/16 — both from three overs — as Canada dismissed Uganda for 93 in 17.2 overs after posting 137/7 in their 20 overs at the Sheikh Zahed Stadium Nursery 1 ground Tuesday.

Canada owed their total to an unbeaten 58 from Jimmy Hansra and 40 from Ashish Bagai, with no other batsman reaching double figures.

In another Group A match here, Namibia beat Italy by three wickets off the final ball. Namibia lost two wickets in the final over — including Craig Williams, who made 57 off 51 balls — before scrambling to 122/7 in reply to Italy’s 121/6.

United Arab Emirates ended Hong Kong’s three-match Group A winning streak. Skipper Kurram Khan, 42, spearheaded the seven-wicket victory here with an unbeaten 67 from 42 balls as the hosts won with eight balls to spare chasing a target of 139.

In Group B, veteran Steve Tikolo led Kenya to a crushing 92-run victory over Scotland in Dubai. Tikolo, 42, claimed 4/2 from eight balls with his off-breaks as Scotland were skittled out for 91 in 13.2 overs after Kenya rattled up 183/7, with Ragheb Aga top scoring with an unbeaten 52 from 25 balls.

In an all-European clash in Dubai, the Netherlands beat Denmark, who are yet to pick up a point, by seven wickets with 56 balls to spare. Opener Stephan Myburgh’s unbeaten 54 steered the Dutch to 110/3 after medium pacer Ahsan Malik snapped 4/10 to restrict the Danes to 109/8.

In the third Group B match, Nepal beat Papua New Guinea in Sharjah by seven wickets with 10 balls to spare, despite Geraint Jones’ half-century.

Jones, 37, hit four sixes in his 55 as PNG made 140/6 but could not prevent Nepal coasting to victory with Binod Bhandari steering his side home with an unbeaten 51 from 23 balls including six sixes.

The top three countries in each group advance to the 2014 World T20 to be staged in Bangladesh.

Brief scores:

Group A: Canada (137/7) beat Uganda (93) by 44 runs; Namibia (122/7) beat Italy (121/6) by three wickets; United Arab Emirates (142/3) beat Hong Kong (138/8) by seven wickets.

Group B: Kenya (183/7) beat Scotland (91) by 92 runs; Netherlands (110/3) beat Denmark (109/8) by seven wickets; Nepal (141/3) beat Papua New Guinea (140/6) by seven wickets.