Afghanistan make history, qualify for 2015 Cricket World Cup

In a fantastic display of grit and determination strifetorn Afghanistan on Friday qualified for its maiden ICC World Cup after defeating Kenya by seven wickets to finish second in the World Cricket League Championship in Sharjah The team who were playing in the fifthtier just five years ago and are forced by the precarious security situation in their country to stage home matches in the Gulf swept past Kenya by seven wickets to secure an historic spot in the 2015 showpiece Deciding to field first after winning the toss Afghanistan dismissed Kenya for 93 in 433 overs and then achieved the target in 205 overs with seven wickets to spare The victory meant Afghanistan finished on 19 points five behind champion Ireland which qualified for ICC39s flagship event to be jointly hosted by Australia and New Zealand in 2015 Debutant Gurdeep Singh in action for Kenya against Afghanistan PicIANS The architects of Afghanistan39s victory were leftarm spinner Hamza Hotak and captain Mohammad Nabi u00a0Afghanistan reached their target in the 21st over when captain Mohammad Nabi hit Shem Ngoche for a boundary through midwicket They had to endure a brief moment of worry before romping to victory when they were reduced to 34 for 3 with Shem Ngoche taking two wickets in five balls But Nabi who finished on 46 not out and Hashmatullah Shaidi put on 62 for the fourth wicket to bring their side home with 175 balls to spare Nabi smashed two huge sixes and three fours to assure his team of second place in the World Cricket League behind runaway winners Ireland who have also qualified for the World Cup Hotak was the pick of bowlers with figures of 101193 quotIt is a very big day in my life I39m sure there will be huge celebrations back home I39m happy for the people of Afghanistan and look forward to playing in Australia and New Zealandquot said Nabi quotI didn39t expect to play in a World Cup when I started playing cricket But now I can cherish this moment and look forward to playing against the best sides in some of the best playing facilities quotPlaying in a World Cup will be one grade up and we39ll try to work hard and do betterquot Afghanistan were already overwhelming favourites to beat Kenya in the last match of an exhausting twoyear qualifying competition In Monday39s Twenty20 international they routed the African side by 106 runs and carried that form through to Wednesday when they romped to victory by eight wickets in the first of the two determining ODIs Then Kenya were dismissed for just 89 with Afghanistan reaching their target inside 18 overs On Friday Kenya who gave a debut to 15yearold opener Gurdeep Singh were put into bat and struggled again with Morris Ouma topscoring with 39 Rakep Patel with 18 was the only other batsman to reach double figures in an innings where the first boundary didn39t arrive until the 16th over quotThis is the best day of my coaching careerquot said Afghanistan coach Kabir Khan a former Pakistan Test player quotIt has been a dream for so many years and now we have achieved it It39s like a dream coming truequot Their qualification was greeted by wild celebrations back in wartorn Afghanistan with 3000 fans packed onto the field at Kabul39s only cricket stadium watching the match on a big screen Large crowds of supporters also celebrated in the southern city of Kandahar the birthplace of the Taliban where police issued strict warnings on the radio before the game that people should not celebrate by firing guns in the air Afghan fans cheer for their team PicIANS It has been a remarkable journey for Afghanistan which was playing in the Pepsi ICC World Cricket League Division 5 in 2008 In 2010 it qualified for the ICC World Twenty20 West Indies 2010 by winning the ICC World Twenty20 Qualifier UAE 2010 It then finished second to Ireland in the ICC World Twenty20 Qualifier UAE 2012 to qualify for the ICC World Twenty20 Sri Lanka 2012 Afghanistan also played in the ICC U19 Cricket World Cup 2010 in New Zealand and the 2012 edition in Australia By virtue of finishing second in the World Cricket League Championship Afghanistan has earned a place in Pool 39A39 that includes cohosts Australia and New Zealand as well as Bangladesh England Sri Lanka and Qualifier 3 Afghanistan will play its opening match in the ICC Cricket World Cup 2015 against Bangladesh at Manuka Oval Canberra on February 18 while its other matches will be against Sri Lanka February 22 Dunedin Qualifier 3 February 26 Dunedin Australia March 4 Perth New Zealand March 8 Napier and England March 13 Sydneyu00a0 Netherlands UAE Scotland Kenya Namibia Canada Uganda Hong Kong Nepal and Papua New Guinea will now compete for the last two World Cup berths at the final qualifying event to be staged in New Zealand early next year Brief Scores Kenya 93 all out in 433 overs Morris Ouma 39 Hamza Hotak 319 Afghanistan 96 for 3 in 205 overs Mohammad Nabi 46 not out Result Afghanistan won by seven wickets