Afghanistan hammer Bermuda in ICC World Cup Twenty20 qualifiers

Afghanistan dented Bermuda's hopes when they cruised to an eight-wicket victory with more than half their overs to spare in a Group B game at the ICC World Cup Twenty20 qualifiers here.

Only Lionel Cann (28), Jacobi Robinson (13) and Chris Douglas (12) reached double figures as Bermuda crumbled to 101 all out in 18.1 overs after being sent in. Second-placed Afghanistan replied with 104/2 in 9.5 overs to secure their third win on Wednesday.

Leg-break bowler Samiullah Shenwari led the Afghan attack with 3/20 from four overs, Shapoor Zadran, Karim Sadiq and Mohammad Nabi chipped in with two wickets apiece as Bermuda floundered.

Opener Mohammad Shahzad spearheaded the reply with an unbeaten 60 from 36 balls, adding 56 for the second wicket with Nabi, who made 33.

Bermuda, who face Kenya on Thursday, started the tournament brightly with victories over Scotland and Denmark but have lost two games in a row and now languish in sixth after also suffering an eight-wicket defeat against the Netherlands.

Group leaders Netherlands easily saw off Nepal by five wickets in Sharjah, overhauling their opponents' 107/6 with 22 balls to spare, despite slow left-arm bowler Basant Regmi's 3/12.

Gyanendra Malla top scored with 44 for Nepal whose innings was undermined by fast bowler Mudassar Bukhari (3/15).

Skipper William Porterfield smashed a century as Group A leaders Ireland recorded their fourth successive win by thumping bottom team, the United States, by 75 runs in Abu Dhabi.

Porterfield's explosive unbeaten 127 from 69 balls, which included 12 fours and five sixes, powered Ireland to an imposing 216/3.

Off-break bowler Paul Stirling, who earlier made 25 in an opening stand of 94 with Porterfield, led the Irish bowling with 3/25 as the US were dismissed for 141 in the final over.

Second-placed Hong Kong notched up their fourth win in five matches, beating Namibia by eight wickets in Abu Dhabi.

Nadeem Ahmed's 3/18 helped Hong Kong restrict the African side to 111/9 before Jamie Atkinson's 50 engineered victory with 10 balls to spare.

The top three teams in each group will advance to the 2014 World T20 to be staged in Bangladesh.

Brief scores:
Group A: Ireland (216/3) beat United States (141) by 75 runs; Hong Kong (114/2) beat Namibia (111/9) by eight wickets.

Group B: Afghanistan (104/2) beat Bermuda (101) by eight wickets; Netherlands (110/5) beat Nepal (107/6) by five wickets.