Afghanistan beat Scotland by seven wickets in Sharjah

Last updated: 6th March 2013  

Afghanistan beat Scotland by seven wickets in Sharjah

Nawroz Mangal: Decisive century for Afghanistan

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Scotland's hopes of qualifying for the 2015 World Cup suffered a blow after they lost by seven wickets to Afghanistan in Sharjah.

A century by Nawroz Mangal proved decisive as the Afghans raced past their target with over 16 overs to spare after Scotland had scored 199-8 in their 50 overs in the ICC World Cricket League Championship clash.

Richie Berrington top-scored for Scotland with 51 and his patient 99-run third-wicket partnership with Matt Machan (44) looked to have set a solid platform.

However the pair both fell in the space of three balls with the score on 133 and the remainder of the batsmen struggled to make an impact in the face of some tight bowling, with Gulbodin Naib (4-31) leading the way.

Iain Wardlaw (2-52) claimed two early wickets as Afghanistan stuttered to 59-3 in their reply but Mangal then took the Scotland attack apart.

He slammed eight fours and six sixes in an unbeaten 112 from 96 balls and was given good support by Samiullah Shenwari (55no) in an unbroken stand of 144.

Scotland remain second in the table behind Ireland on 11 points but the Netherlands and UAE now have a game in hand and are just one point behind and Afghanistan have nine.

The top two nations automatically qualify for the 2015 World Cup.

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