Hong Kong thrash Canada in World T20 qualifier

Opener Irfan Ahmed struck a century and Munir Dar claimed four wickets as unbeaten Hong Kong thrashed Canada by 53 runs in a Group A match of the ICC World Cup Twenty20 qualifiers at the Sheikh Zayed Nursery 1 ground here.

While Hong Kong were recording their third straight victory Monday, Scotland, Uganda and Kenya won at the third attempt to keep their hopes alive.

Pakistan-born Ahmed's 53-ball 100, which contained eight sixes and four fours, helped Hong Kong post 168/5 before restricting Canada to 115/8 with Dar claiming 4/17.

Scotland, who lost their opener to Bermuda, got off the mark with an eight-wicket win over Nepal in Dubai.

Calum MacLeod spearheaded Scotland's reply after Nepal posted 137/7, hitting five fours and three sixes in his unbeaten 82 from 64 balls to see his side home with four balls remaining. Earlier, Nepal were pegged back by Safyaan Sharif (3/19) and Gordon Goudie (3/29).

Uganda registered their first win by beating Italy by one wicket with one ball left here. Gareth Berg led Italy to 148/4 with 62 from 34 balls before Uganda replied with 151/9.

Veteran Steve Tikolo's unbeaten 48 helped Kenya cruise to an eight-wicket victory over Denmark with 10.5 overs remaining in Dubai. Opening bowlers Nehemiah Odhiambo (3/15) and Ragheb Aga (2/8) restricted the Danes to a mediocre 84/8 before 42-year-old opener Tikolo cut loose.

The top three teams in each group will advance to next year's World T20 in Bangladesh.

Brief scores:

Group A: Hong Kong (168/5) beat Canada (115/8) by 53 runs; Uganda (151/9) beat Italy (148/4) by one wicket.

Group B: Scotland (138/2) beat Nepal (137/7) by eight wickets; Kenya (85/2) beat Denmark (84/8) by eight wickets.

--IANS/CMC

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