Ireland, Scotland and Zimbabwe all two from two with victories over Papua New Guinea, Hong Kong and Afghanistan respectively
Tuesday 6 March 2018 15:46, UK
Chris Gayle lashed 11 sixes in a score of 123 from 91 balls as Windies began their World Cup Qualifier campaign with a 60-run win over UAE in Harare.
Gayle helped Windies - World Cup champions in 1975 and 1979 and runners-up in 1983 - rack up 357-4, while Shimron Hetmyer top scored with 127.
Rameez Shahzad (112no) replied with a century for UAE and Shaiman Anwar chipped in with 64 but the associate nation were restricted to 297-6, with Windies skipper Jason Holder snaffling 5-53.
Windies' Group A rivals Ireland made it two wins from two as they defeated Papua New Guinea by four wickets, while Scotland beat Hong Kong by the same margin to complete back-to-back victories in Group B.
PNG v IRELAND SCORECARD | SCOTLAND v HONG KONG SCORECARD
William Porterfield hit 111 and Ed Joyce added 53 as Ireland - who beat Netherlands by 93 runs on DLS on Sunday - trumped Papua New Guinea's 235 all out with five balls to spare in Harare, Tony Ura's career-best 151 at the top of the order for Papua New Guinea coming in a losing cause.
Scotland skittled Hong Kong for 91 in Bulawayo, thanks chiefly to spinner Tom Sole (4-15), before skipper Kyle Coetzer (41no) kept calm amid a wobble to usher his side home in 23.3 overs.
Zimbabwe also claimed a second win in as many games after edging a nail-biting contest with Afghanistan by two runs to condemn their opponents to a second straight defeat. ZIMBABWE v AFGHANISTAN SCORECARD
Afghanistan slipped from 156-3 to 177-9 chasing Zimbabwe's 196 all out and were dismissed for 194 with three balls remaining after Dawlat Zadran (10no) and Shapoor Zadran (7) had kept their hopes alive and frustrated Zimbabwe with a stand of 17 in 8.1 overs at Queens Sports Club.
Shapoor was caught behind off Brian Vitori meaning Afghanistan, who suffered defeat to Scotland in their opener over the weekend, now face an uphill battle to reach the Super Six stage.
Zimbabwe's Brendan Taylor (89) and Sikandar Raza (60) earlier backed up their centuries against Nepal last time before Zimbabwe lost their last six wickets for 32 runs and their final five for nine.
The World Cup Qualifier continues on Thursday, when Windies play Papua New Guinea and Netherlands face UAE in Group A, and Scotland battle Nepal and Afghanistan meet Hong Kong in Group B.
The top two sides in the 10-team qualifier will advance to the 2019 World Cup, alongside hosts England, Australia, South Africa, New Zealand, India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh.
