West Indies see off Netherlands as Ireland reach Super Sixes

Representational pictureBighitting opener Evin Lewis was among the runs as the West Indies made it four straight wins at World Cup qualifying by beating the Netherlands in Harare on Monday while Ireland joined them in the Super Six stage Lewis hit 84 as the twotime World Cup winners racked up 3096 from 48 overs in a weatheraffected match with the rain coming for a second time with the Dutch well adrift on 1676 That left Jason Holders Windies top of Group A with Ireland progressing thanks to a 226run thrashing of the United Arab Emirates Paul Stirling crashed a blistering 126 as the Irish posted 3136 from only 44 overs before skittling out the UAE for just 91William Porterfields men take two points through to the next round as the six remaining sides prepare to battle it out for the last two spots at next years tournament in England and Wales Afghanistan one of the pretournament favourites still have a slim chance of reaching a second successive World Cup after Nepal beat Hong Kong by five wickets to send the Afghans through from Group B on net run rate The West Indies were already through to the next round but played their strongest side against the Netherlands Chris Gayle was at his very best early on as the 38yearold smashed five sixes in a 31ball 46 before holing out off Paul van Meekeren Lewis continued where his opening partner had left off before Marlon Samuels made a timely return to form with an unbeaten 73 while Rovman Powell crashed a quickfire 52 after making his maiden ODI hundred on Saturday The Netherlands were always behind the rate and although key player Ryan ten Doeschate was still at the crease on 67 when the game was stopped three earlier run outs had ended any chance of victoryZimbabwe grab lastgasp tieZimbabwe and Scotland will start the Super Six round with three points apiece after a thrilling tie to close out Group B in Bulawayo Needing two runs from seven balls with two wickets in hand to chase down 211 the Scots lost two batsmen in as many legitimate deliveries with a wide in between ensuring a tie Unbelievable game of cricket in the end it went all the way to the death Pretty exciting stuff said Scotland allrounder Richie Berrington Obviously from our point of view it is disappointing to get in that position so close and not get over the line obviously though we will take a point from itA fivewicket haul from Shafyaan Sharif and Michael Leasks 437 restricted the hosts to 210 all out before Berringtons 47 took Scotland to 1454 But a clutter of wickets left the match delicately poised and after Tendai Chatara had dismissed Mark Watt with the final ball of the penultimate over Blessing Muzarabani bowled a wide before having number 11 Brad Wheal caught behind by Brendan TaylorCatch up on all the latest sports news and updates here Also download the new midday Android and iOS apps to get latest updatesThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever