Kenya, PNG through to Super Six stage of World Cup qualifier

Wellington, Jan 23 (IANS) An electrifying century from the Kenyan opener Irfan Karim saw his team shock the Netherlands by four wickets on a dramatic final day of the group stage of the 2015 Cricket World Cup Qualifier on Thursday.

In the other three matches played, Papua New Guinea (PNG) recorded an eight wicket victory over Namibia, Scotland defeated Canada by 170 runs, and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) vanquished Hong Kong by 22 runs.

Thursday’s results mean that the teams to progress to the Super Six stage of the ICC event are Group A’s Scotland, Hong Kong, and the UAE, alongside PNG, Namibia, and Kenya from Group B.

In the match of the day, an ODI battle for the third and final Group B spot in the Super Six stage, two centuries were struck as Kenya defeated the Netherlands to leapfrog the Dutch into the top three.

After being sent in to bat, Netherlands set a cracking pace, with opener Eric Szwarczynski (57) and Wesley Barresi (137 not out) putting on a 148 run partnership that helped the Netherlands stack up a total of 265 for six.

However, the day belonged to Kenya opener Karim, the man of the match, who wasted no time in the run chase, striking an 84-ball 108, including 14 boundaries. Ragheb Aga (86 from 70 balls) and Collins Obuya (37 from 24 balls) continued the pace, and Kenya reached 266 in 35.4 overs with four wickets in hand.

Scores in brief:

At Bay Oval 2, Mount Maunganui, Tauranga, North Island –

Namibia 163 all out, 48.4 overs (Gerrie Snyman 54, Craig Williams 27; Mahuru Dai 3-34, Charles Amini 2-24, Pipi Raho 2-25, Chris Amini 2-25)

PNG 164 for two, 25 overs (Lega Siaka 112 not out)

Result: PNG won by eight wickets.

At Hagley Oval, Christchurch, South Island (ODI) –

Scotland 341 for nine, 50 overs (Calum MacLeod 175, Matt Machan 68, Freddie Coleman 40; Khurram Chohan 5-68, Nitish Kumar 2-40)

Canada 171 all out, 39.2 overs (Hamza Tariq 71, Nitish Kumar 26; Rob Taylor 2-47, Iain Wardlaw 2-30, Safyaan Sharif 2-23)

Result: Scotland won by 170 runs.

At Bert Sutcliffe Oval, Lincoln, South Island (ODI) –

Netherlands 265 for six, 50 overs (Wesley Barresi 137 not out, Eric Szwarczynski 57, Michael Swart 29, Peter Borren 28; Lameck Onyango 2-50)

Kenya 266 for six, 35.4 overs (Irfan Karim 108, Ragheb Aga 86, Collins Obuya 37; Ahsan Malik 3-54, Mudassar Bukhari 3-88)

Result: Kenya won by four wickets.

At Queenstown Events Centre, Queenstown, South Island –

UAE 249 all out, 48.1 overs (Khurram Khan 78, Amjad Ali 49, Rohan Mustafa 32, Mohammad Naveed 29 not out; Haseeb Amjad 3-33, Haseeb Amjad 2-46, Aizaz Khan 2-53)

Hong Kong 227 all out, 49.4 overs (Mark Chapman 59, Babar Hayat 46 not out; Manjula Guruge 4-39, Rohan Mustafa 3-53)

Result: UAE won by 22 runs.