Jason Holder slams 99 not out as West Indies overcome Papua New Guinea
Thursday 8 March 2018 17:25, UK
Scotland beat Nepal by four wickets to complete a third win in a row at the ICC World Cup Qualifier and seal a spot in the Super Six stage.
Captain Kyle Coetzer hit an unbeaten 88 as Scotland - victorious over Afghanistan and Hong Kong in their first two games - passed Nepal's 149 all out in 41.3 overs Queens Sports Club.
Sussex seamer Stu Whittingham earlier bagged 3-35 as Nepal were bundled out in 47.4 overs, Safyaan Sharif and Alasdair Evans also snaffling two wickets apiece in the Group B clash.
Afghanistan, one of the pre-tournament favourites, suffered a third straight defeat, going down to Hong Kong by 30 runs on DLS in Bulawayo to leave their hopes of a Super Six berth looking slim.
Anshy Rath struck 65 as Hong Kong totalled 241-8 from their 50 overs, before Afghanistan could only muster 195-9 from a revised 46 overs following a rain delay, tumbling from 132-4.
Ehsan Khan bagged four wickets for Hong Kong to leave Afghanistan needing to beat Nepal in their final group game to stand any chance of reaching the next stage.
Jason Holder ended 99 not out as his Windies team overcome a slight scare before defeating Papua New Guinea by six wickets in Group A.
Carlos Brathwaite claimed 5-27 as Papua New Guinea were dismissed for 200, the associate nation crumbling from 151-4 to 163-9 before No 10 batsman Norman Vanua smashed 35 off 22 balls.
Windies slipped to 58-4 in reply but Holder and Shai Hope (49no) put on an unbroken 143 as the Caribbean outit backed up their 60-run triumph over the United Arab Emirates on Tuesday.
Holder took a single to long-on from the final ball of the 43rd over, bowled by Vanua, to seal Windies' win, and finish one run shy of a maiden ODI ton.
Also in Group A, UAE downed Netherlands by six wickets - skipper Rohana Mustafa taking a five-wicket haul as the Dutch were dismissed for 176, before opener Chirag Suri scored an unbeaten 78.
Watch Windies' World Cup Qualifier clash with Ireland, live on Sky Sports Mix (channel 121) from 7.25am on Saturday.
