Lennox Cush

I’ve never had the chance to go to Italy and now - if selected - I’ll be heading off there this summer for Division 4.

Today was kind of bitter-sweet for us as although we’d already qualified for the next division, with an epic match yesterday, we still wanted to come out and win against Nepal again today.

Looking at yesterday’s match against Nepal, I think it was an excellent game. We executed our plans beautifully and our opening bowler Darlington and Shuja did really well and prior to the game the coach had asked the openers to get at least three wickets in the first 10 overs and they’d done in this game. Coach asked and they provided.

Looking at Nepal, they were on the back-foot early after we took some early wickets and unfortunately for them it was too hard to come back.

In comparison with today’s game we didn’t do half of what we were supposed to and as a batting side we didn’t handle the Nepal spinner Rahul at all well. Credit has to go to the young man though – he was the making of the Nepal side today and deservingly the Man of the Match.

It was a huge crowd today who cheered for good performances and it was incredible to play in front of something like 15,000 people today – the crowd were in good spirits and cheered good performances all round. It was really good for us to be able to play in front of such a huge audience and also live on national television here in Nepal.

It’s been a long month or so away from home so I’m very much looking forward to heading back to New York and seeing my family and relax a bit. Then it’s going to be time to focus on making sure I’m in the team that travels to Italy this summer.

Paras Khadka

I think today was the biggest achievement for Nepal cricket in the history of the game here. We’ve never won a tournament as a senior team and to win here and qualify for Division 4 is huge.

I was taken aback when USA decided to bat after they won the toss but after they had set a platform they were 150-odd for 2, then Rahul came on and completely changed the match. I think he bowled well to the field, and I think we took our best series of wickets during the Powerplay. I think perhaps the USA tried to slog the ball too much.

Today’s crowd was fantastic and their support really motivated us to do well. After yesterday where some individuals in the crowd had been a disappointment in their behaviour today’s set an example of what true Nepalese cricket fans should be.

We just had a crazy bus drive back from the ground – we get a police escort and the streets were lined with fans cheering and waving Nepalese flags – it’s something I never expected. I think tonight we’re definitely going to have a bit of a party! I think a team dinner is in order and then we’ll go out and celebrate the trophy and promotion.

This week has been an exciting one for me as captain and one that has made me proud to play for Nepal. The team has always had the talent but this time we’ve managed to break the jinx of not quite making it all the way. This is the first time the senior team has won and it feels really great.

I hope you’ve enjoyed reading my thoughts this week and hopefully I’ll be back on here again when we head to Division 4 in Italy this summer.

Singapore's Mohamed Shoib Abdul Razak has received an official reprimand for breaching the ICC Code of Conduct during his country's match against United States of America in the World Cricket League Division 5 on Wednesday.

The charge was brought by the two on-field umpires, Tyron Wijewardene and Buddhi Pradham, at the conclusion of the match, which Singapore won by 99 runs. Razak was found to have breached Section 12 Article 2.1.3 of the ICC Code, which relates to 'showing dissent at an umpire's decision'.

He pleaded guilty to the charge and accepted the penalty imposed by Match Referee David Jukes without the need to convene a disciplinary hearing. "Heat of the moment or not, there is no place for this sort of behaviour in international cricket. Mr Razak has apologised for his actions and I hope that we will not see a recurrence," said Jukes.

A triumphant Afghanistan team returned home to a joyous welcome from hundreds of fans after securing a place at the World Twenty20 tournament in West Indies. A large crowd of supporters at Kabul's airport waved the national flag and sang patriotic songs to greet the team on their arrival, AFP reported.

"Our national cricket team returns home today and we have come to show them our appreciation for their achievement and to further encourage them," said Hazrat Omar Zakhilwal, finance minister and Afghan Cricket Board chairman.

After wins over Ireland, Scotland and USA in the group stages of the Qualifiers in Dubai, Afghanistan held their nerve to beat UAE in a low-scoring semi-final to be sure of admission to their first major tournament.

"Certainly it was a dream of all the players and the Afghan people, and God fulfilled it," captain Nowroz Mangal said of their winning streak at the Qualifiers.

Afghanistan finished the qualifying tournament in style, beating Ireland by eight wickets in the final, meaning that they will now face India and South Africa in Group C of the World Twenty20, which begins on April 30.

Paras Khadka

It was good to be back where belonged today at the ground we always train at TU. We knew that today’s match was important and now Friday’s is going to be even more important to win as the top three in the table are so close.

I am confident in the boys and the way we’ve been playing that we can defeat the USA and continue on the path that we’ve been travelling on during this tournament. I think Fiji were an okay but Sharad’s century was the making of today.

Sharad’s one of our main batsmen so having him in fine form is important for us and to have score his maiden senior century today was brilliant and I am proud of him as captain.

I know I keep talking about the crowd but today it was huge but it’s such a great motivation for us to have them there and chanting our names and giving us such great support and I hope they will continue to do so all the way through to the final day.

We’ve got a rest day tomorrow and I think we’ll have a relaxed day, maybe watch a movie – we’re definitely not going swimming this time, it is way too cold and I think we might all catch pneumonia!

Friday’s going to be a big game – I don’t feel we need a specific game plan, our spirit and determination is pushing us to succeed and I hope we can continue to make our fans and Nepal proud.

Afghanistan 264 and 494 for 4 (Shahzad 215*, Nabi 80, Mangal 70*) beat Canada 566 and 191 for 4 dec by six wickets
Scorecard

There is no challenge too daunting for Afghanistan at the moment. Riding the momentum that led their charge to qualification for the World Twenty20, Mohammmad Shahzad's unbeaten 215 helped them pull off a sensational chase of 494 to beat Canada by six wickets in the Intercontinental Cup at Sharjah.

They now top the table and can credibly lay claim to being one of the strongest Associate nations. That they would even be in a position to draw this match seemed unlikely after Canada racked up 566 batting first before rolling Afghanistan over for 264. However, needing to bat out the day to survive, 18-year-old Shahzad shared two century stands, first with captain Nowroz Mangal and then Mohammad Nabi, that set up and all-but sealed the victory which came with 2.2 to spare.

Click here for the full story.

Lennox Cush

Jersey played well to start with and their captain Ryan Driver made good inroads, but I don’t think they ever really threatened us, despite their potent bowling.

Carl played very well today, he went in at a time when things weren’t going well and I think him and Aditya were really good today and credit goes to both of them for the runs they scored.

I think the earlier bowlers made it easier for me, Daniram and Darlington in particular, they set the tone and pushed the Jersey side back so that I could take the wickets. When I came out they needed to score at six runs an over which made it easier for me – I felt mentally I was more ready to take the wickets.

The University ground has by far the best outfield of all three grounds so it’s been good to play there and if we make it to the final that’s where we’ll be playing and in front of Nepal’s national TV station which has been broadcasting all the matches live from that ground.

Tomorrow we face Singapore, which is a really important game for us because if we win it, it means we’re guaranteed a place in Division 4 this summer in Italy – which is somewhere I feel we rightfully deserve to be. Once we’ve completed tomorrow then we can focus on winning the finals and taking home the Division 5 title.

I am looking forward to a rest this evening so that I’m fully prepared for tomorrow – I might even go and get a massage to help me get a good night’s rest.

Paras Khadka

It feels good to score runs when the team needed it today and it’s nice to get the man of the match again, but the credit should really go to the bowlers and not to me. I’m sharing a room with Basanta and at the moment I’m one ahead of him on the Man of the Match awards, so maybe we’ve got a lucky room number, I’d be quite happy if we keep winning the awards and the matches through till Saturday!

When we reached the ground this morning there was an incredible fog, you couldn’t even see someone five feet in front of you so the umpires decided to reduce the match to 47 overs a piece. Having won the toss we decided to field first and we wanted to use the conditions to our advantage.

Our fast bowlers made a good start and then the spinners did it for us again. Basanta Regmi took four today and Sanjam Regmi took three and then Rahul took two – which I was really happy with. The spinners were turning it fair and square and the Bahrain guys couldn’t read it. Once we took early wickets we just continued to dominate and saw them all out in the 43rd over.

We had another great crowd of supporters at the Army Ground which spurs me and the guys on to win for Nepal. I really enjoy it when they come down and show their support for the country. I think the crowds will keep coming so I don’t want us to disappoint them along the way so need to maintain the quality of cricket that we are playing now.

I think Bahrain like to slog the ball and putting them into bat first made it harder for them especially as they struggled to face our spinners and I’m content that our plan worked out for us.

As I’ve said of the other teams, I don’t think Fiji can be underestimated tomorrow – they pushed Singapore today, so we have to continue with the attitude that the game is anyone’s to win and we have to respect every opponent. I would like the boys to keep focused.

MCC, who are currently engaged in a two-week tour of Abu Dhabi, Dubai and Muscat, will be using pink balls in all their games on the trip in order to further test the innovation in Middle Eastern conditions.

MCC’s first tour of 2010 includes five 50-over and two Twenty20 games against teams from around the region, as well as a historic match against Durham in Abu Dhabi on March 29. The first three matches will be played at the Zayed International Stadium, and two of the three games will be played under lights.

This year is a landmark for the traditional opener to the English domestic season, with the match not being played at Lord's for the first time. Instead the game, against Durham, will be a four-day day-night fixture with a pink ball, in an attempt to research the feasibility of Test cricket under lights.

Before that game, the team will be travelling to Dubai to play two limited-overs games and provide coaching for local youngsters, before finishing off the tour with two matches against Oman in Muscat.

The squad is managed by MCC’s current Chairman of Cricket, former Sussex captain Mike Griffith, and captained by Keith Dutch, the former Middlesex and Somerset allrounder. The men Dutch will captain have strong links with MCC youth cricket, with nine having been part of either the MCC Young Cricketers or the MCC Universities systems.

There will be several changes to the side for the match against Durham, with Gloucestershire captain and former MCC Young Cricketer Alex Gidman set tp lead a squad that includes Mark Ramprakash, Leicestershire's James Taylor and Middlesex and England Lions paceman Steve Finn.

In a lively fast-bowling pack, Finn will be joined by Gloucestershire's Steve Kirby, and Chris Tremlett, who is trying to resurrect his international career with a move of from current county Hampshire. In addition, Essex wicketkeeper James Foster will play in this fixture for the third year in succession.

It is the first time since 2004 that MCC has toured the region, and as part of their commitment to developing cricket in non-Test playing nations they will be donating $2,500 to be shared between the Abu Dhabi and Oman Cricket Associations, while the ICC will also be making a $1,250 donation.

Lennox Cush

Well I nearly got my century! After yesterday’s post about how important it was for one of the top four to get into triple figures I thought it was a good idea if I tried to lead from the front. I didn’t quite make it but I’m not unhappy with 91 and I really felt it was a match-winning innings on my behalf for the side. To then take a couple of wickets as well topped off the day nicely.

It’s always nice to win a Man-of-the-Match award and I’m sure it’ll look nice at home in New York – but I’d rather it were the World Cricket League Division 5 trophy that I get to take home to the US.

I didn’t expect Bahrain to be as strong as they were and credit to them, they worked hard today but we proved again that we were the stronger side. I am aware next up we’ve got Jersey who easily beat Fiji today but we musn’t be complacent. Every single match in this tournament is important and we want to go through as winners and table-toppers.

I was pleased with our score today. Again we made a plan to get into the high two hundreds and we did just that and it was good to see our captain Steve Massiah leading the way too with a hard-fought 67.

I’m looking forward to our rest day tomorrow – I’m not too sure what we’ve got planned, we may have a light training session but I’m looking forward to relaxing and preparing myself for Wednesday's match which I hope will be another victory for the Stars and Stripes.

Paras Khadka

Wow what a match – it went really down to the wire today. I think I maybe underestimated Singapore’s batting capacity but we proved our abilities out there in front of another great supporting crowd.

When we were around 80 for 5 I really felt that Sarad [Vesawkar] and Basant [Regmi] consolidated very well, I think when our batsmen got set they started to play some big silly shots that cost them and we need to concentrate more to the end and we all need to bat our way through the innings with confidence and not get out cheaply.

I think Singapore bowled very well in their first 20 overs and we just stuck it out as we saw that the ball was seaming about a bit. I’m not sure if they perhaps misread the pitch at Engineering and it’s a place we know a bit better.

For us right now we’re concentrating on our games and we’ve got a fair few games to go and we can’t take anything lightly and we have to keep playing our way through to the final. I think we played really hard today and it paid dividends.

Tomorrow’s a rest day – I think we might go for a morning pool session, provided the water is warm but I might check the weather in the morning to see if it’s going to be cold! If we don’t go for a swim I think we’ll just relax together as a team at the hotel and prepare ourselves for our next match which is against Bahrain.

Although Bahrain lost today in what I think tight game, we can’t take any opposition lightly as cricket is a game that can be anyone’s on its day. We’ll make sure we continue to play well and in the right spirit.

Hosts Nepal continued their strong start to the Division 5 tournament as they beat Singapore, while there were also victories for USA and Jersey on the second day of the tournament.

For full reports click here.

Paras Khadka, Nepal

Last night we had the opening ceremony for the ICC World Cricket League Division 5 here in Nepal and what was really great was that the prime minister of Nepal came to open the event and it was great to hear him speak so positively of cricket and his hopes for Nepal in the tournament.

Today has been good but I feel, as a side, we need to improve our intensity and show a bit more energy and we could do wonders. I am not saying that I am not happy with our win over Jersey – we batted and bowled well but there are always ways to improve our game.

I didn’t expect to have such a big crowd at the game as the Army Ground is a fair distance outside Kathmandu but to have over 1000 people there cheering our names, every four, and giving us support was fantastic. We normally get good crowds in Nepal and it’s something that we live for as players to hear our nation’s people cheering us on.

Looking ahead to tomorrow – we know Singapore as a side but we played them at Twenty20 and this is a different format. You have to take every opponent seriously and Singapore are definitely a good side since they qualified as Division 6 winners and we just have to take each game as it comes and give it our all.

Finally to win the Man of the Match today was a good a feeling. I always wanted to lead by example and I would like us to consistently get the runs and wickets - and if I lead the way I hope my team will follow and we will continue to be a side to reckoned with.

Lennox Cush, USA

I think we had a good day today where we played to our plan – we wanted to go out there and make at least 300 and that’s something that we did do. The score may say that Fiji were a weak side but I wouldn’t say that – they tried hard but our plans worked out for us.

We have to play every game with the same mentality and treat it as though it were a final, which is what we did today.

It was good to make a half-century with my first innings of the tournament, but I know I can do better as I am in good nick at the moment after scoring 95 here, in Nepal, during our warm-up match last week against one of the local sides.

I feel as a side we need to find at least one of our top four who can go right through and make it into triple figures, and I hope that's something we can accomplish this tournament.

I don’t think we were tested enough today – I think that will come on another day – quite possibly from the Nepal side, who are the hosts, but again we can’t take anyone for granted in the tournament.

It was a nice atmosphere at the ground and there were few USA supporters down there, which is always nice to see, and everyone was very amicable.

I was surprised to find out that some of the teams have been checking out my statistics – coming prepared on how I play. It was something I didn’t expect and now I need to start doing some more research myself on some of the players I am due to come up against.

I didn’t get a chance to go to the opening ceremony last night as I wasn’t feeling too well. I am still a bit disappointed about that as I heard it was cool and that the prime minister of Nepal came to launch the tournament. Hopefully they’ll be another opportunity for me to experience some of Nepal’s hospitality later on this week.

The long and winding journey to the 2015 World Cup makes its next stop in Nepal with six teams competing in the Pepsi ICC World Cricket League Division 5 from 20 to 27 February.

The WCL gives the Associate and Affiliate nations a pathway towards qualification for the pinnacle event of the limited-overs game. Not that it is easy to get there, of course. Tournament hosts and favourites Nepal will face tough opposition from Bahrain, Fiji, Jersey, Singapore and USA as they attempt to finish in the top two and gain promotion to the Division 4 tournament to be held in Italy in August this year.

USA are heading to Division 5 straight from the World Twenty20 Qualifiers in Dubai, where they made a successful start by beating Scotland in their opening match. The side will arrive in Nepal a week early for the tournament to get some 50-over match practice in ahead of their first match against Fiji.

"We'll be heading straight from the Qualifiers to Nepal, so we'll have had plenty of match practice,” said Steve Massiah, USA’s captain. “We've got some warm-ups in Nepal to help us get back into 50 over cricket from Twenty20. We know Nepal and Jersey well as teams we've met before and as for Singapore, Bahrain and Fiji we'll just have to face what comes at us, but I am confident of my side."

Singapore, which were victorious at the Division 6 games in September last year, have appointed former Sri Lanka opening batsman Marvan Atapattu as their new coach and he is confident that he can pick up with the side where former coach Trevor Chappell left off.

"Trevor Chappell did a fantastic job for Singapore and all the side have been given a taste for victory,” said Atapattu. “It's going to be hard work for the team when we travel to Nepal, which is a challenging venue, but I am confident that we will do well. We are a talented team but being part-timers makes their priorities different from those of pro cricketers so I will also need to adjust while they need to understand my expectations of them which is that we must to compete on all three skills levels – batting, bowling and fielding.”

Mohsin Kamal, who represented Pakistan in Tests and ODIs and is now Bahrain’s coach, is confident his side will play to their strengths at the tournament. "When we went into Division 6 we didn't know all our strengths and now I feel we have discovered them,” he explained. “We play our games with our strengths and abilities and I am confident we'll do well in Nepal.

"We've been taking a look at the other teams' scores but we're concentrating on ourselves. However, we of course know Singapore from Division 6 and also Nepal from the recent tournament we played in the United Arab Emirates. I've also taken a trip to Nepal so am aware of the type of pitches we can expect and but as always with this game it's about what happens on the day," said Mohsin.

Canada 178 for 6 (Bagai 52, Nabi 2-23) beat Afghanistan 177 (Nabi 62, Chohan 4-43) by four wickets

Scorecard

Afghanistan's fairytale run of success finally crashed down to earth with a chastening four-wicket defeat to Canada in the second match of the series in Sharjah. They never recovered from a disastrous start that saw Khurram Chohan destroy the top order, leaving Afghanistan floundering at 4 for 3 by the third over, on his way to match-winning figures of 4 for 43.

It was due reward for Chohan who's four wickets in the opening fixture so nearly took Canada to victory. He started the day by claiming Shafiqullah Shafiq and last game's centurion Mohammad Shahzad in his first over, before following it up with Nowroz Mangal and debutant Shabir Noori to leave Afghanistan 38 for 5 and in utter disarray.

He was well supported by Rizwan Cheema and Umar Bhatti, who took two wickets each with their nagging seamers. It was only a 51-run sixth-wicket stand and Mohammad Nabi's well-constructed 62 that gave Afghanistan any semblance of respectability. Nabi played in the way he does best, belting five sixes and three fours during his 57-ball stay. Dominating a last-wicket stand with Aftab Alam, the pair added 49 to take Afghanistan to 177.

It didn't look enough and despite being reduced to 35 for 2 after 10 overs Canada were careful not to undo their good work. Sandeep Jyoti and captain Ashish Bagai, who richly deserved a win after making an unbeaten 91 in the first game, worked the ball around nicely during an 82-run stand that all but sealed the game. Jyoti made a patient 38 before he fell to Aftab Alam, while Bagai continued his good form striking five boundaries during his 59-ball 52.

Nabi threatened to cause a late scare when he took two wickets in the 35th over, reducing Canada to 144 for 6, still 34 runs short of the target, but Jawad Dawood came out and immediately arrested the momentum and any hopes of a fightback. He crashed 25 from 19 balls to give Canada their first win of the series.

Europe’s 12 best cricketers will be travelling to Pune, India this month to take to attend the ICC European Men’s Academy.

The academy will feature elite coaches from around the world including former Australian test bowler and Pakistan national coach Geoff Lawson and Cricket Ireland’s director of cricket, and former England team analyst Mark Garaway.

Garaway will be head coach of the Academy head coach and said he’s looking forward to being involved with the first time: “I have craved the opportunity to lead a coaching team and am really looking forward to it, as there has been a high quality support team assembled. I am honoured to be working with the team and know that the players will be working within an elite environment throughout the trip.”

It’s the eighth year the Academy has been staged and the 11-day trip will see the participants involved in a mixture of net sessions, video analysis, bowling, fielding and batting drills, centre wicket practice, and one-to-one discussions with coaches on player performance and goal-setting.

The programme runs from February 24 to March 6 with participants ranging from 19-27 years old and coming from across the six of ICC European Member Countries - Denmark, Guernsey, Ireland, Isle of Man, Netherlands and Scotland.

ICC European Academy Squad 2010: Alasdair Evans (Scotland), Phil Eaglestone (Ireland) Nigel Jones (Ireland) (GCS Player Scholarship), Mark Jonkman (Netherlands), Gary Kidd (Ireland), Rory McCann (Ireland) Matthew Parker (Scotland), Marc Petrie (Scotland), Andrew Poynter (Ireland), Zishan Shah (Denmark), James Warr (Guernsey), Berend Westdijk (Netherlands).

Tony Munro

Morocco has begun its preparations for the Africa Division Three tournament in South Africa in April by hosting Catalanya CC from Barcelona last week.

Although the North Africans lost the series 3-0, the visiting Barcelona side consisted entirely of South Asian expats providing all-indigenous Morocco with a thorough examination ahead of the African tournament.

During the first two games when fielding all locals, Morocco was an accomplished bowling and fielding team, although their batting was somewhat lacking. For the final game, the home side brought in reinforcements from Commonwealth embassies.

The game in Morocco had its origins in the Pakistan Embassy in Rabat - now there are some 300 players playing in the national league involving teams from Casablanca, Rabat and Tangier. There are two cricket grounds in Morocco - in Rabat and Tangier.

Since the league started in 2002, it has used the 50-over format, but going with the times, will switch to Twenty/20 for the new season which starts in April and continues until September. The league is played on a home-and-away basis, meaning all nine teams play 16 games each.

Progress has been difficult in a country which blends Arab and French cultures, although the Moroccan Cricket Association sees the employment of three Level 2 coaches as pivotal to its plans to introduce cricket into schools.

It also intends to hold an annual triangular tournament, providing the national team with regular matchplay outside the World Cricket League.

The Moroccan team which played Catalanya was: Mohammed Ennaoui (capt), Abdelghani Ennaoui, Yassine Boudcher (wk), Ghelzim Redouane, Rachid El Harmaoui, Mohammed Soussi, Soufiane Essayeh, Ibrahim Bekkouri, Mounassir, Ismail Kettani, Fahim Abdelkhalek, Zakaria Zaki.

Afghanistan 289 for 6 (Shahzad 118, Ali 114, Chohan 4-39) beat Canada 288 for 8 (Bagai 91, Cheema 61, Shenwari 4-31) by one run

Scorecard

Afghanistan needed a dramatic last-ball run out to edge a thriller against Canada after Ashish Bagai almost carried the underdogs to victory. The packed crowd of Afghanistan supporters, still in full voice following the team's triumph in the World Twenty20 qualifiers, were treated to a fluctuating spectacle of 50-over cricket at its clammy-palmed best as a spirited Canada side came within a whisker of causing an upset.

Chasing an unlikely 289 to win, Canada had timed the chase superbly, needing 38 from the final six overs with captain Ashish Bagai well set on 70, four wickets intact and a Powerplay still in hand. They took full advantage of the first over of fielding restrictions, with Bagai clubbing Shapoor Zadran for two fours and a two to take the equation to 25 from 30 balls.

But the 46th over proved a dramatic turning point as Samiullah Shenwari targeted the tail-ender Umar Bhati and pulled off a crucial maiden, conceding just two leg byes. Karim Sadiq and Mohammad Nabi restricted the next three overs to just 15 to leave a tantalising eight required from the final six balls.

Khurram Chohan managed to get Bagai on strike with a single from the first ball, but Nabi held his nerve and conceded just three of the next four. With four runs needed for victory from the last ball Chohan managed to force it away and scamper two but Bagai was run out by attempting a match-levelling single in a thrilling climax to the game.

It was a cruel end for Bagai who made 91 and, alongside fifties from Rizwan Cheema and Sunil Dhaniram, threatened to carry Canada to victory. Bagai only hit five boundaries as he instead worked the ball around cleverly and ran hard during his 99-ball stay. It was in sharp contrast to Cheema who launched the run chase with a series of boundaries. He butchered Afghanistan's opening bowlers, blazing 11 fours and two sixes on his way to 65 from just 35 balls.

His dashing half-century arrested the momentum which looked firmly Afghanistan's after Noor Ali, the hero from the crucial qualifying game against UAE, and Mohammad Shahzad made rapid hundreds to set up the game for Afghanistan.Shahzad followed up his sterling performance in the final of the World Twenty20 Qualifier with a Man-of-the-Match-earning 118, batting at No. 3 after Sadiq was defeated by Chohan in the third over for a duck.

Together with Ali the pair added 205 in 36 overs as they punished the Canada bowlers. Ali ended up with 114, and in contrasting style to some of his more stodgy knocks in the Twenty20, he was in full flow, stroking two sixes and 11 fours in his 127-ball stay. Chohan was the only Canada bowler to end with any real credit finishing with 4 for 39 from his 10 overs.

Afghanistan, it seems, are irrepressible at the moment but Canada will take great heart from this performance going into the next game on February 18.

Tony Munro

Teams from across South East Asia joined local combinations for the first Vietnam Sixes in Ho Chi Minh City last week. The visitors from Hong Kong, Singapore, Bangkok and Phnom Penh joined four composite teams made up of players from the local competition in the ten-team event held on February 6-7.

There are seven teams in the Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC) league but to provide the visitors with some competition, the 'locals' (who are nearly all expats) were moulded into four combinations named for sponsors - the Vietnam Cricket Association (VCA) Drunken Duck, VCA Tandoor, VCA Phattys and VCA Bar No 5. The move perhaps worked too well, with Ho Chi Minh City teams winning two of three major prizes - Tandoor beat Phattys to win the Sixes Cup, Bar No 5 defeated Singapore's Spirits CC to win the Plate while Misfits CC beat fellow Singaporean club Freehits CC to win the Consolation Final. Angelo Perera, the Tandoor captain and captain of the local Sri Lankan Sports Club team won the award for he most sixes.

Misfits have been regular visitors to HCMC and visiting teams are not unusual, but this was the first time there had been a tournament on this sort of scale, according to Vietnam Cricket Association President, Terry Gordon. "There have been teams come across to Saigon (HCMC) and Hanoi (many years ago) to play one-off games. Nothing like this. We wanted to create a friendly atmosphere, with competitive cricket and free time to enjoy our adopted city."

The tournament was played at Vietnam's only cricket ground, a tree-lined oval at the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology in Saigon South, the HCMC campus of a Melbourne educational facility. Predictably, the pitch consists of a synthetic wicket on a concrete slab.

As with most countries where cricket is virtually unheard of, ground availability remains a core issue. "Every year the university hints that we might not get use of the ground for too much longer - we're competing with other sports - Aussie Rules, rugby, football, frisbee. And each of those sports has attracted locals. Unfortunately we suffer from 'bad-press' as many expats (Americans) and locals just don't understand the rules and think the game goes for too long," warns Gordon.

There's a couple of Australian Vietnamese who play for the Saigon Australian Cricket Club but they are the exception in a land where the culture whose people prefer the indoors in the middle of the day.

Officials of the VCA are all expatriate businessmen whose first priority is to their businesses and and/or employers so the VCA is hoping to forge links with the Asian Cricket Council to expand past their 'foreign' base.

The VCA is also looking to restart the competition in Hanoi which died several years ago and possibly start a club in Da Nang in central Vietnam. There's still the occasional game on matting wickets in Hanoi which the local expats organise and the VCA is hopeful a team from the nation's capital will appear in next year's Sixes.

At this stage the VCA remains an informal entity, a situation which Gordon forsees won't be remedied quickly. "Nothing happens quickly here and the process can be very expensive, particularly because there are no locals playing."

Gordon says securing a ground is crucial to consolidation plans. "We're desperate for assistance from the ACC or another organisation. We really need to have 100% ownership of a ground. But need some benefactors to assist. If RMIT blocked public access to their facility, the cricket comp in Saigon would die overnight. I'm hoping we can draft a business plan in the coming 12 months, and work towards acquiring a suitable piece of land, within 20-30 minutes drive of the City centre."

For more information about cricket in Vietnam, please visit the Vietnam Cricket Association website.

Ireland coach Phil Simmons has slammed the organisers of the ICC World Twenty20 Qualifier after his side were forced to play the final against Afghanistan – which they lost - less than an hour after beating Netherlands.

“Six matches in five days was ridiculous,” Simmons said. “At the end of the day we’ve qualified but it’s not healthy and it wouldn’t be done for any other tournament, so I didn’t think it was right.”

“At the end of the day we came out with the win we needed today and I’m sure the Afghans were happy with their win and we both go to the World Cup.”

Tony Munro

Members of the Afghanistan cricket team, already reveling in their qualification for the World Twenty20 tournament, have been promised new Nissan vehicles by an Afghanistan-based businessman.

Aziz Hotak, described only as a 'national trader', has reportedly announced that each player in the team which won the ICC World Twenty20 Qualifier tournament will receive a vehicle. He was present at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium on Saturday when the team won the final against Ireland by eight wickets. Afghanistan Cricket Federation (ACF) chairman, Hazrat Omar Zakhilwal, also the country's Finance Minister, was reportedly sent to Dubai for the final from Kabul by Hamid Karzai, the Afghanistan President after his country qualified for the final by beating Netherlands in the Super Fours match.

The team is now preparing for two one-day internationals and a four-day Intercontinental Cup match against Canada. It will return to Kabul on February 25.

Afghanistan 147 for 2 (Shahzad 65, Johnston 1-28) beat Ireland 142 for 8 (Cusack 28, Nangal 3-23) by eight wickets with 15 balls remaining

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Riding on the crest of a wave that carried them through to the World Twenty20 earlier today, Afghanistan finished the qualifying tournament in style cantering to victory over Ireland in the final by eight wickets.

After the tension of the two 'semi final' matches that saw both teams secure their place in the Caribbean, the final had a festival air to it under the bright lights of the Dubai International Stadium. With the crowd already in good cheer and the players' minds uncluttered by the pressure of needing a win, the Afghanistan batsmen blazed happily away at Ireland's total with Mohammad Shahzad guiding them home with a boundary-filled 65 that secured his team passage into Group C, alongside South Africa and India, in the main event in May.

It's a bizarre quirk of the fixture list that means runners-up Ireland will be in Group D, which features, on paper at least, the slightly easier prospects of England and West Indies. Afghanistan, however, won't mind a jot and will feel like they can beat anyone following their triumph today

Their win was built on a solid bowling effort after Ireland captain William Porterfield, as has become his custom, won the toss and chose to bat. He started brightly taking nine from the first over and, together with stalwart Niall O'Brien adding 42 in five overs before mishitting an attempted swipe down the ground off the wily offspin of Mohammad Nabi. It brought Alex Cusack to the wicket, barely hours after he blasted Ireland to victory over Netherlands.

Despite the loss of O'Brien at the other end, his good form continued and he made 28 before missing an attempted pull shot at Samiullah Shenwari and being stumped. Kevin O'Brien's sketchy form continued as he was out the next delivery pulling Nowroz Mangal, the Afghanistan captain, straight to midwicket for 2.

Mangal ended with two more wickets as the Ireland lower-order flayed without much success at some disciplined Afghani bowling. Trent Johnston helped carry the total to 137 before he was out the first ball of the final over, driving Shapoor Zadran straight to cover.

Needing 143 for victory Karim Sadiq launched the innings as if he the target was double. He smacked three fours off Johnston's first over and didn't look back thereafter, smiting Peter Connell for a mighty six over long on his way to 34 from 17 balls. By the time he was beaten for pace by a Johnston short ball and caught at midwicket, Afghanistan had taken the bite out of the required run rate and, with Shahzad looking set, needed 105 from more than 16 overs.

He and Noor Ali, the hero from the earlier game against UAE, added 52 in less than eight overs, with Ali providing a useful foil to Shahzad's more expansive approach. When Ali eventually fell for 16, Mangal and Shahzad calmly chipped away at the total with quick running and the occasional big shot.

With 20 needed from 24 balls, Cusack had an over to forget. He started by firing a wide past the advancing batsman and wicketkeeper Niall O'Brien, which went for four and was then clubbed handsomely over cover by Mangal for another boundary. The over cost 15 and the result was a formality with three overs left. Shahzad finished it off in style, carving a short ball over cover for six to crown the best day in Afghanistan's cricketing history.

Hamid Hassan

I feel absolutely amazing and it is a dream come true to qualify for the World Twenty20. It is undoubtedly the biggest day in my cricketing life.

All over the world the people of Afghanistan will be happy today and I am very proud to be able to play for my country and bring so much happiness to our supporters.

We may have only been chasing a small target but it was a very difficult wicket to score runs on and the pitch was taking lots of spin. There was also lots of pressure on the players so it was a great effort to win the game.

In the final over we were all lined up on the boundary edge, with our arms around each other, like they do on the half-way line in the football when it is a penalty shoot out and then we ran into the middle once we had won. Quite a few supporters ran on the pitch and they were dancing on the outfield in celebration.

It is hard to take in that we are going to playing matches against major international sides that I only ever seen play on the television. We might not be able to beat the top teams, but I know that we are going to fight really hard and give them a tough test.

I have never been to the Caribbean and I can’t imagine what is going to be like to play there. I always used to like watching Brian Lara batting and Curtley Ambrose bowling on the television and it is fantastic I am going to be playing in the West Indies.

I have just finished my lunch and we are now going to stay at the ground and watch the Ireland-Netherlands match and then get ready for the final.

I will also probably spend some time with the physio as I have quite a few injuries, which means my body is really hurting, but nothing is going to stop me playing in the final this evening.

It doesn’t really matter if we win or lose tonight, as the most important thing was to qualify for the World Twenty20, but I am sure that our people want us to bring the trophy back to Kabul and celebrate with us, so we are determined to win the game.

Afghanistan 101 for 6 (Noor Ali 38*, Stanikzai 26, Silva 2-14, Fayyaz 2-14) beat UAE 100 for 9 (Saqib 24, Nabi 3-17, Mirwais 2-15) by 4 wickets

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With their fairytale mission resting on the game, Afghanistan held their nerve to overcome a tenacious UAE side in a low-scoring thriller and take their place in the World Twenty20 that starts in May.

Rarely has an Associate competition inspired so much emotion as people from around the world willed Afghanistan on through the tournament. Their defeat to the Netherlands yesterday brought back bitter memories of Afghanistan's near-miss on qualification for the 50-over World Cup, but today there was no mistake.

Their win was crafted on a number of useful contributions, rather than an outstanding individual but on a tired surface Noor Ali's unbeaten 38, to guide his side home in a tense run chase, must be one of the most important innings in Afghanistan's history.

Asked to field first by home captain Khuuram Khan in front of a big crowd, Afghanistan settled into the contest immediately. The new-ball pair of Mirwais Ashraf and Shapoor Zadran have been important in giving Afghanistan control early and unlike yesterday, when they bowed under the pressure of the Netherlands' batsmen, the pair responded well. Within four overs UAE were restricted to 11 for 3, with Ashraf claiming two wickets and Zadran getting the important scalp of Afran Haider, who after a couple of dot balls slashed one straight down the throat of third man.

UAE have proved throughout the tournament that they are a resilient side and Abdul Rahman and Saqib Ali, who played so well against Ireland, set about undoing the early damage with 42-run stand. Having taken the score to 53 for 3 in just over 10 overs, Rahman got a grubber from Mohammed Nabi, that scuttled along the ground from a short length, straight into middle stump. Ali fell two overs later, having made a patient 24 and it was left to Naeemuddin Aslam to shepherd as many as he could from the tail. Nabi and Hamid Hassan, Afghanistan's specialist death bowler, prevented any hopes UAE may have had of pushing beyond 100 with tight and penetrating bowling. Nabi ended with 3 for 17 and Hassan 2 for 23, as UAE posted what looked to be a below-par total.

At this stage, Afghanistan would have backed themselves to coast home but they lost two wickets within the first four overs with only 16 on the board. Karim Sadiq and Mohammad Shahzad were both bowled by Shadeep Silva from deliveries that kept low and it was left to captain Nowroz Mangal to join Noor Ali to try and steady the ship. The pair carefully recovered the situation, running hard to add 32 important runs in six overs. When Mangal was out, trying to slog Fayyaz Ahmed over long on, for 14, his side needed 53 in 10 overs and the game was Afghanistan's to lose.

Ali continued to work the ball around well and found a willing partner in Asghar Stanikzai. They calmly pushed the score to 88, before Stanikzai needlessly tried to smash Ahmed over long off and was caught. It set nerves fluttering but in the 19th over, with 13 still needed, Ali swatted a short ball through midwicket for his only boundary of the innings, and followed it up with a two and another single. Nabi was bowled, deceived by a slower ball, but Samiullah Shenwari swept his first ball for four to leave just one needed from the final over.

Fittingly, it was Ali who secured the winning moment, chipping over mid off to cue celebrations that will continue all the way to the Caribbean.

He was named man of the match and is now eagerly looking forward to testing his skills against the top sides. "It has always been our dream to qualify and play in a World Cup. We missed out on the 50-over Cricket World Cup last year, so I am very happy we will play in the Twenty20 event," he said. "It is our dream to play against the best teams and have the chance to play against fast bowlers like Dale Steyn or Ishant Sharma. We will prepare ourselves very well for this event and we need to keep on getting better ahead of the World Twenty20."

Ireland 152 for 7 (O'Brien 46, Nawaz 3-23) beat UAE 130 (Ali 63, Cusack 3-23) by 22 runs

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UAE crashed to defeat against Ireland, losing five wickets for 14 runs to end their unbeaten record in the tournament and leave Ireland one win away from qualifying for the World Twenty20. Batting first on a sluggish track Ireland did well to reach 152, thanks largely to Niall O'Brien's controlled innings of 46 and some lusty lower-order blows from Gary Wilson. In reply UAE recovered from a bad start to set up their chase nicely, needing 37 from 25 balls with Saqib Ali on 62 and five wickets in hand, before crumbling in dramatic fashion.

Expectations of the two sides could not have been more contrasting coming into the tournament, Ireland were recognised as the best team outside the Test game, while UAE only made it into the event because they were hosts. Yet, after the opening round, it was UAE who were unbeaten, and Ireland who were scrapping to keep themselves in the hunt for a place in the Caribbean.

William Porterfield again got his side off to a positive start, having won the toss and chosen to bat, taking two boundaries from the first over and racing to 22 from 13 balls. But a change of pace proved his undoing as he fell to Ali.

It set the pattern of batsmen making useful contributions without really ramming home the advantage as only O'Brien made it past 22. With wickets steadily falling around him, he resisted the temptation for big shots and relied on quick running in his 43-ball innings. When he was one of three quick wickets to fall in the middle of the innings, Ireland were tottering on 117 for 6 in the 18th over. Gary Wilson then injected some much needed momentum, clubbing two fours and a six to make 19 from seven deliveries.

Ireland carried the momentum into their fielding effort, taking three wickets within the first three overs to reduce UAE to 17 for 3. Captain Khuuram Khan then began a fight back with Ali, before he became one of three victims for Alex Cusack.

With UAE precariously placed, Naeemuddin Aslam joined Ali at the crease and set about constructing a fine 46-run stand that gave UAE a good chance of reaching their target. However, 17-year-old left-arm spinner George Dockrell, who has had a difficult tournament so far, struck a crucial blow, trapping Aslam in front with a quicker ball that skidded on.

It signalled a mighty collapse, with Ali following the next ball, trying to slog Cusack over midwicket and Qadar Nawaz deceived by a slower ball, three deliveries later. Andre Botha mopped up the final two wickets to leave UAE facing a crucial game against Afghanistan and Ireland only needing victory against the Netherlands to secure a place in the Caribbean.

Netherlands 132 for 6 (Kervezee 39, Nabi 3-23) beat Afghanistan128 for 9 (Ahmadzai 23, Jonkman 2-23) by four wickets

Afghanistan's dream of a place at the World Twenty20 was placed on standby after their defeat to Netherlands at Dubai International stadium. Put in to bat in an electric atmosphere in front of a crowd of well over 2,500, Afghanistan were restricted to 128 for 9, with several batsmen making starts but none able to push on for a big total. In reply, Alexei Kervezee and Eric Szwarczynski got the chase off to a flier, and Netherlands weathered a late fightback from Mohammad Nabi and Hamid Hassan to register a tense four-wicket win.

Afghanistan had to be on top of their game in the field after posting such a modest total, but they let themselves down with several fielding and bowling lapses to allow Netherlands to take control. Mohammad Shahzad, the wicketkeeper, put down a chance in the first over of Netherlands' chase, and the 18 extras given away did nothing to help Afghanistan's attempts to restrict the scoring. In the tense closing moments of the game, Shapoor Zadran's casual attempt at a catch let Ryan ten Doeschate, the last recognised batsman at the crease, off the hook and he lofted Hassan over mid on three balls later to seal the win.

Zadran's economical opening spells have been one of the vital ingredients in Afghanistan's success in this tournament so far. He leaked runs against Ireland, but gave away just 21 runs in eight overs against Scotland and USA. Admittedly, he would have been frustrated by the missed chance off his third ball today, but he was unforgivably wayward thereafter, giving away four boundaries in his opening spell.

Kervezee provided most of the momentum as Netherlands raced to 64 in under nine overs, but when he was bowled around his legs sweeping at Nabi, Afghanistan sniffed a chance for an unlikely comeback. Nabi held on to a stinging return catch to get rid of Szwarczynski in his next over, and when Bas Zuiderent was trapped in front by Samiullah Shenwari for two, Netherlands had slipped to 74 for 3. Daan van Bunge eased the pressure with a towering six over long off, but when he was dismissed attempting to repeat the shot, the nerves set in.

Hassan has been a talisman for Afghanistan bowling at the death in this format, but without the weight of runs to put pressure on the opposition's batsmen, his effectiveness was limited in this game. As a proven wicket-taker he was also introduced a little too late, when only 39 runs were required off 48 balls. After Peter Borren's senseless run out, Hassan rattled Atse Buurman's stumps with a searing yorker second ball, but ten Doeschate drew on his experience – and took advantage of a dropped catch – to guide Netherlands home with seven balls to spare.

ten Doeschate was named Man of the Match for his efforts, which included Nabi's wicket when Afghanistan batted. That dismissal was the third of the innings, after a double strike by Mark Jonkman, as Afghanistan slipped from 30 without loss to 32 for 3. Jonkman has built up a reputation as one of the quickest bowlers outside the Test arena, but he also exhibited a well-disguised slower ball to bowl Nowroz Mangal for 10.

Confused calling then led to Mohammad Shahzad's run out to reduce Afghanistan to 51 for 4. Raees Ahmadzai collected two fours in his 23 – the highest score of the innings – but after his dismissal wickets fell at regular intervals as Afghanistan slipped to 92 for 7. Ashraf aimed two massive strikes over long on to lift the score in the closing overs, but it was probably 20 runs short of the total Afghanistan needed.

Netherlands will be buoyed by this result, which gives them two valuable points ahead of their second encounter against Ireland tomorrow. Afghanistan carried two points into this round courtesy of their win over Ireland in the group stage, but after today's loss will be hoping for a strong victory in their game against UAE tomorrow to enhance their chances of making it to the West Indies.

Hamid Hassan

Arriving at the ground this morning, I wasn’t expecting us to lose to the Netherlands, but we didn’t score enough runs and made too many mistakes in the field, dropping important catches and conceding far too many extras.

I don’t think it was the pressure of the game that got to us, since we have really improved those areas of our game recently. Mohammad Nabi bowled really well though and although I tried my best I couldn’t get an early wicket in my spell.

I hope that we can do much better tomorrow, as we know so much riding on the game. It is agonising to think that we are so close to going to the Caribbean but that we also may miss out on playing in another major event having failed to qualify for the 50-over World Cup last year. I can only imagine how busy the internet cafes will be back at home tomorrow with everybody following the live scores on the internet.

We are confident going into the match against the UAE as they are a team that we have beaten twice in the ACC Twenty20 Cup in November. We know what they are capable of and they have obviously been playing extremely well in the tournament so far, so we will treat them with a lot of respect. I certainly hope I’m not required to score 10 runs off the last two balls to win the game like I was last year – it would be much nicer for my nerves to have a comfortable victory!

We are all going to watch the Ireland-UAE match this afternoon and see if there is anything we can pick up ahead of our final Super Four game. Kabir Khan, our coach, used to be in charge of the UAE side, so I am sure he will be able to provide us with plenty of insights as well. We will then head back to the team hotel, get some dinner, and it will be another early night for me.
I would like to thank all the Afghanistan supporters who turned up to watch the match today – the noise was incredible – and I hope they can all come again tomorrow. I would also like to thank everybody for their comments on yesterday’s blog. Lots of people seem to have been very interested in my love of the film Rocky!

Just like Rocky, we have all put up so many hours in training to help us achieve our dreams of playing in a major international event. In fact, running up and down the stairs in the Olympic Stadium in Kabul as part of our training camp in the build-up to this tournament reminded me of the film.

It would certainly make the pain of all those training days worthwhile if we can get back to our winning ways tomorrow by showing our champion qualities and achieve qualification for the World Twenty20.

Hamid Hassan

Our first aim has been achieved and we have qualified for the Super Fours stages of the ICC World Twenty20 Qualifier after we beat USA today.

It is a real boost that we have won all three matches and that we carry two points into the next stage. We know that one more win might be enough to get us into the final, but our only focus is trying to win every match that we play in.

I was really pleased with my bowling display – it is always nice to get a wicket with your first ball – and I always felt confident that we would be able to defend our target.

As ever, we received fantastic support from our fans in the stadium at the Sports City – it was very inspiring to see so many Afghanistan flags on display as it really makes you want to do well for your country. I really appreciate all of the messages from my previous blogs as well. It seems like everybody wants Afghanistan to do well! Hopefully even more people may be able to come to our remaining matches, as I think our support is quite intimidating for the opposition.

After the match, I had to go to do a post-match media conference and they all wanted to know how it felt to beat USA, but the opposition didn’t matter to me. I was just happy to win another cricket match.

I love getting the chance to play against different countries and this was the first time we had ever played USA in an international match. I could never have dreamed when I was young, that I would one day play them in a cricket game.

I am a big fan of American television and movies and my favourite film is Rocky – I vividly remember watching it when I was growing up – and one of my heroes is Sylvester Stallone.

I think that there is a similarity in the story of Rocky and the Afghanistan cricket team – we both started at the bottom and gradually made our way up the rankings. It is easy to forget how far we have come in the last two years since we played at the World Cricket League Division 5 in Jersey.

We all want to win the tournament and having the chance to play against India or South Africa at the ICC World Twenty20 really would be like Rocky having the chance to fight the champion and we are determined to make our dreams come true.

Ireland 202 for 4 (O'Brien 84, Cusack 46) beat USA 124 for 6 (Thyagarajan 72*, Connell 4-14) by 78 runs

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After the jubilation of their unexpected win over Scotland, USA came crashing back down today as Niall O'Brien's 84 lifted Ireland to a massive 202 for 4 and set up a 78-run win. Aditya Thyagarajan's unbeaten 72 saved USA's humiliation after they had slipped to 25 for 6 in their chase, but the result was already all but guaranteed after Ireland ratcheted up their highest total in Twenty20 cricket.

After the promising start in the win over Scotland, USA were badly let down by their bowlers today. William Porterfield and O'Brien stormed to 83 at 10 an over before Saurabh Verma found the edge of Porterfield's bat for 45, and after he departed Alex Cusack ensured there would be no let-up in the onslaught.

O'Brien looked set for a maiden Twenty20 hundred as he entered the 80s with 19 balls remaining in the innings, but it was not to be. He gave Timroy Allen the first of his two wickets to depart for 84, but by then the total had already passed 170. The other O'Brien - Kevin - came and went quickly, and Cusack was dismissed four runs short of a half-century, but Trent Johnston and Gary Wilson's late hitting took Ireland's score past 200.

Thoroughly demoralised after Ireland's blitz, USA's batsmen quickly capitulated in Peter Connell and Trent Johnston's opening spells. Three top order batsmen fell without scoring - including Captain Steve Massiah, to the first ball he faced - as USA crumbled to 11 for 5. Three overs later they slipped to 25 for 6, and it looked as though USA would struggle to survive past the halfway mark of their innings.

With only honour left to play for, the debutant Thyagarajan set about his task with gusto, collecting 11 fours in his innings and adding 99 with Orlando Baker to salvage some pride for USA. He was particularly severe on George Dockrell, the young left-arm spinner, and USA's final total was an admirable one after the depths of their collapse.

Ireland will be pleased with the extent of their victory in this game after their opening loss to Afghanistan, as they are now in strong contention for a Super Four berth. In theory, USA also still have a chance of going through to the next round, although they will have to inflict a resounding defeat on Afghanistan tomorrow which, on current form, looks highly unlikely.

Kenya 141 for (Obanda 79, Tikolo 50) beat Canada 138 for 9 (Bagai 36, Odhiambo 3-16) by nine wickets

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Alex Obanda butchered 79 from 48 balls to lead Kenya to a resounding victory over Canada in the World Twenty20 Qualifiers in Dubai.

Following their disappointing defeat to minnows UAE in their opening game, where their conservative approach strangled hopes of chasing 165, Kenya came out firing in pursuit of a modest total from Canada. Obanda dominated a 126-run opening stand with Steve Tikolo, which came from only 76 balls.

The pair were severe on the generous serving of short balls dished up from the Canada bowlers, who were clearly wilting in the heat of the Kenyan attack. From the first over Obanda unfurled an array of rasping cuts and pulls, taking 13 off Umar Bhatti's opening over, as he raced to his fifty from just 23 balls.

The pair reached 64 inside the five overs and, while Tikolo didn't get much of the strike, he was no less aggressive when he did. His 50, from 36 balls, included five fours and a six, enough to reminded everyone that, even at the age of 38, he remains one of the most gifted batsmen outside Test cricket.

It made made a mockery of the target Canada scrapped together earlier in the day. They were inserted by Maurice Ouma and lost John Davidson in the first over of the game, bowled by Hiren Varaiya for a duck. Rizwan Cheema, the Canada captain, opening with Davidson tried to arrest the early momentum with a couple of big shots, but things didn't improve for his side as Hiral Patel fell for four in the fifth over, pulling a short ball from Jimmy Kamande straight to Tikolo at square leg.

The bulk of the runs came through contributions from Cheema (32), Geoff Barnett (30) and a run-a-ball 36 from Ashish Bagai. Despite these useful starts, none of the batsmen could get away. Kamande's nagging offspinners choked the middle order and his dismissal of Cheema, with a doosra, was one to remember. The batsman had no clue as it spun away from him and clipped the edge through the wicketkeeper Ouma.

Medium-pacer Nehemiah Odhiambo, who was the pick of the bowlers in Kenya's opening match, was again in the wickets today, as he bowled a devastating 'death' over of yorkers to collect three wickets and give away just four runs.

It set the momentum which Obanda and Tikolo lifted to another level to revive Kenya's hopes of progressing in the tournament.

Hamid Hassan

Two wins out of two is the perfect start for us to the tournament and it was a very good performance with the ball against Scotland on Wednesday.

I was very worried whether we would manage a defendable score, but when we got to 130 I felt very confident. I told the coach during the innings break that I thought we had enough if we all bowled really well. My role in the team is to come on after about 10 overs and try and bowl quickly, which is something that I really enjoy, and it was nice to take wickets again today.

Our opening bowlers, Shapoor Zadran and Mirwais Ashraf were excellent – they only conceded eight runs in the first five overs, and really put a lot of pressure on Scotland and then our spin bowlers, Karim Sadiq and Mohammad Nabi, kept up the pressure.

There is a lot of attention ahead of our match against the USA tomorrow and it seems that everybody wants to talk to me about the game and what it will be like to play them. For us, it is just another cricket match and one more step towards qualifying for the World Twenty20.

I think that it is a great thing that cricket can bring people together and that players from Afghanistan and the USA can play each other in an international match. It also shows how global a game, cricket now is.

We are now travelling back to our hotel, which is about 20 minutes from the stadium in Dubai Sports City, and I will just rest and relax ahead of the game. I always like to go to bed early before a match so I will probably try and sleep at 8.30pm and get ready for another massive game on Thursday.

Afghanistan 131 for 7 (Noor Ali 42, Coetzer 3-25) beat Scotland 117 for 9 (McCallum 38, Hassan 3-32) by 14 runs

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Afghanistan continued their seemingly inexorable march to the World Twenty20 with a 14-run win over Scotland at Sheikh Zayed Stadium in Abu Dhabi. Noor Ali's blistering 42, when wickets were falling around him, provided the early impetus in Afghanistan's 131 for 7 and Shapoor Zadran's remarkable bowling - he conceded just eight runs in four overs - held Scotland at bay to ensure Afghanistan's passage into the Super Fours.

Scotland's decision to field this morning appeared to have paid dividends when Gordon Drummond picked up Karim Sadiq and Shafiqullah in his first over, but Ali was unperturbed and crashed four fours and a six in his 42. With his partner striking the ball so cleanly, Mohammad Shahzad could afford to play a more sedate innings. His 30 contained just a single boundary, but he rotated the strike well in the 71-run partnership.

Kyle Coetzer grabbed three quick wickets - including the hero of yesterday's game, Mohammad Nabi, first ball - to peg Afghanistan back, and when Samiullah Shenwari picked out Gavin Hamilton off Jan Stander in the 19th over, Afghanistan were struggling at 116 for 7. But a late surge from Raees Ahmadzai and Mirwais Ashraf took the score past 130 and gave Afghanistan's bowlers a decent total to defend.

Scotland would have been hoping for a positive start to their chase, but Navdeep Poonia fell second ball to Ashraf, and Zadran proved almost impossible to get away in his opening spell. When Kyle Coetzer's painful innings ended on the first ball of the fifth over, he had struggled to two from 15 balls. Hamilton and Neil McCallum clawed their way back with a 66-run partnership for the third wicket, but when they were both dismissed in consecutive balls, Afghanistan had found their opening.

Hamid Hassan bowled Jan Stander and Fraser Watts, and when Drummond and Simon Smith fell to Mohammad Nabi in the penultimate over, Scotland's hopes were extinguished. Hassan shattered Majid Haq's stumps with the last ball of the innings to seal an emphatic victory, sending Scotland crashing out of contention and Afghanistan through to the next round.

Hamid Hassan

What a way to start the tournament! To win your opening game of the event is always important but to beat the number one Associate team who played in the Super Eights at the last ICC World Twenty20 is an amazing feeling.

Even though we beat Ireland at the World Cup Qualifier last year and in the ICC Intercontinental Cup last month, I always knew it was going to be a tough game, so to come out on top is a real boost for the team.

The support we received from the Afghanistan supporters was fantastic in the stadium. They made a lot of noise playing the drums. It was a great atmosphere to play in front of and really helped us gain our momentum once we got William Porterfield out. I would also to like to thank everybody who has been sending us messages from back in Afghanistan – the support we get from you all is incredible.

I was quite pleased with the way that I bowled and it was great to be involved in the final two wickets – the first was a run out when the ball was hit straight back to me and I managed to get a direct hit on the stumps and then the second one was cleaned bowled to finish the match.

I am very proud of my team and to represent my country. To show this to everybody I had small Afghanistan flags on my face. At the ACC Twenty20 in Dubai last year I only had one flag on my face, but for the Twenty20 Qualifier I thought it was important to have two flags – one on each cheek. Maybe it helped bring us luck!

We know that Scotland will be a tough match on Wednesday and even though we beat them twice last year at the World Cup Qualifier, there have been enough surprise results on the opening day of this event to remind us in Twenty20 anything can happen.

Netherlands 146 for 4 (Zuiderent 43*, Kervezee 39) beat Canada 142 for 7 (Billcliff 37, Seelaar 2-18) by six wickets

Scorecard

Netherlands began their campaign at the World Twenty20 Qualifiers with a six-wicket win over Canada at the Dubai International stadium. Netherland's batting echoed their strong allround bowling performance, as Bas Zuiderent built on a solid 57-run opening partnership to guide his side home in the 20th over with an unbeaten 43.

Canada soon had reason to rue their decision to bat first this afternoon, as John Davison drove Edgar Schiferli uppishly and into the hands of a diving Tom de Grooth at cover in the first over. Rizwan Cheema then edged Mudassar Bukhari onto his own helmet attempting a pull and was forced to retire injured.

After these early setbacks, Hiral Patel - the 18-year-old batsman whose unbeaten 88 powered Canada's win over Ireland in the Associates T20 Series prior to this tournament - combined well with Geoff Barnett, adding 60 in quick time to steady the Canadian innings. Barnett, who was particularly strong off the front foot today, opened his innings with three fours off Schiferli and dominated the partnership with some aggressive strokeplay.

Barnett was unafraid to loft anything pitched up to him over the off side, but ultimately paid the price for his confidence as he picked out de Grooth on the cover boundary off the left-arm spin of Pieter Seelaar. Patel fell in the very next over to a stunning catch by Daan van Bunge off his own bowling, but Ian Billcliff carried on the momentum with a belligerent 37 on Twenty20 debut. Canada's innings fizzled out after his dismissal, and they will have been disappointed to have scored only 142 after an enterprising effort from their middle order.

Alexei Kervezee and Eric Szwarczynski smashed six boundaries between them in the first 13 balls of Netherlands' chase, and had raced to 50 in the first five overs before Khurram Chohan clung on to a chance at mid off to get rid of Szwarczynski. Kervezee then failed to pick up John Davison's doosra and was neatly stumped by Bagai, but with the required run rate under a run-a-ball, Zuiderent and Peter Borren had time to play themselves in.

After Borren's run out, Ryan ten Doeschate gave Zuiderent admirable support with a breezy 17, and though he fell off the final ball of the penultimate over, Zuiderent sealed the win by lofting a full toss from Chohan to the long off boundary. After a day of upsets in which USA and UAE prevailed in their games against more experienced opposition, the result here was the expected one and Netherlands will take some confidence into their fixture tomorrow.

UAE 165 for 5 (Haider 59, Onyango 2-32) beat Kenya 150 for 5 (Obuya 42, Raza 2-15) by 15 runs

Scorecard

The UAE batsmen continued a day of upsets at the World Twenty20 Qualifiers, by setting up an unlikely victory against Kenya in Sheikh Zayed Stadium in Abu Dhabi.

Following on from USA's victory over Scotland and Ireland's defeat to Afghanistan, the home captain Khurram Khan won the toss and chose to bat. On a flat pitch the openers made light work of the Kenyan bowlers, coasting to 35 inside four overs before Mohammad Iqbal was defeated by Lameck Onyango for 20. Wicketkeeper Abdul Rehman fell soon after to the medium-pace of youngster Nelson Odhiambo. It brought Saqib Ali to join Arfan Haider at the crease and the two calmly put on 61 in eight overs for the third wicket. Left-hander Haider flayed five fours and two sixes on his way to 59, his first Twenty20 International fifty before he was eventually dismissed by the impressive Nelson Odhiambo, caught by Hiren Varaiya.

With the total at 103 for 2 off 13 overs, his dismissal could have sparked a Kenyan revival. Instead Khan came out and clubbed four boundaries from his 19 balls, sharing a 41-run stand in 25 balls with Ali. They fell in quick succession to leave UAE 144 for 5 with 11 balls to go. Naeemuddin Aslam and Shadeep Silva scampered 21 runs to leave UAE with a competitive 165.

Given the form of their top-order in the recent matches, Kenya would have fancied their chances of chasing down the total against an inexperienced team but dangerous opener David Obuya couldn't get away as he was caught by Qasim Zubair off Qadar Nawaz for 2 in the second over.

Steve Tikilo, one of the most gifted and experienced batsmen in Associate cricket, then looked to arrest the momentum stroking four quick boundaries. Having raced to 25 from 18 balls he was trapped lbw to Silva's left-arm spin. Silva struck again in his next over, removing Alex Obanda in the same fashion for 13, to leave Kenya facing a daunting 116 from 11.5 overs.

Captain Maurice Ouma and Collins Obuya did their best in a 69-run partnership for the fourth wicket, but couldn't score at the rate required. Given the situation they were strangely becalmed and by the time Ouma was dismissed for 39 by Ahmed Raza in the 18th over 47 runs were still needed. Jimmy Kamande and Collins Obuya upped the scoring rate but it wasn't to be. Kenya finished 15 runs short to give hosts UAE a chance of causing a major upset and progressing to their first global tournament since the 1996 World Cup.

Afghanistan 139 for 8 (Nabi 43*, Johnston 2-18) beat Ireland 126 all out (Porterfield 35, Sadiq 3-17) by 13 runs

Scorecard

Mohammad Nabi produced a magnificent allround display to continue Afghanistan's fairytale rise in international cricket with victory over Ireland, in a gripping match at the World Twenty20 Qualifier in Dubai.

In a fluctuating contest, neither side were separated for long until Afghanistan surged to victory with glut of quick wickets at the end. The day began with William Porterfield winning the toss and inserting Afghanistan on a lively pitch in the International Stadium. Trent Johntson, Ireland's evergreen opening bowler, made the most of the bounce available, getting his side off to an ideal start with two quick wickets. Karim Sadiq was bowled in Jonhston's first over before Shafiqullah, lashed out after a couple of dot balls to be caught smartly by John Mooney.

It could have been worse for Afghanistan as a number of chances were spilled before Noor Ali and wicketkeeper Mohammad Shahzad steadied things with a 47-run third-wicket stand in just under seven overs. At 57 for 2 at the half-way stage the foundations had been laid for a decent total but Shahzad was run out by Mooney for 12 before Ali fell soon after. He was dismissed by a full-length diving catch by Paul Stirling as he tried to flick Andre Botha into the leg side. It left Afghanistan reeling at 69 for 4 with just over seven overs to go.

Nabi immediately arrested the momentum with successive sixes off young left-arm spinner George Dockrell, which was followed by another captain Nowroz Mangal. Though Mangal was stumped the next ball, trying to repeat another heave, the damage had been done with 23-runs from the over. As wickets tumbled around him, Nabi's blend of quick running and occasional boundary swiping lifted the total to 139 and he finished unbeaten on 43 from 25 balls.

As a captain opening the innings, Porterfield had an important role in calming the nerves and setting the tone for the run chase. With a four in the first over and successive, massive sixes over midwicket off Shapoor Zadran in the third, he got off to a flyer. Zadran held his nerve, however, and removed Niall O'Brien off the final ball of the third over. Having already taken 14 from the first five legal deliveries, there was no need for O'Brien to try and smite another boundary, it proved his undoing as he was caught by Ali for 2.

Stirling, Ireland's most promising young player, joined his captain as the two calmly lifted the total to 49 off just six overs. At that stage Ireland looked like they could coast home but Sadiq made up for his earlier disappointment with the bat with a crucial double-strike in the seventh over. First Porterfield was bowled by a sharply-spinning offbeak and then Andre Botha was bowled through that gate from one that came back at him for a duck. Kevin O'Brien and Stirling soon followed as Afghanistan took charge to leave Ireland at 98 for 7, still 41 needed from 33 balls.

Johnston and Mooney then wrestled back some of the momentum, putting on 27 in four overs to keep Ireland in the hunt, before Johnston holed out off a full toss from Nabi to leave Ireland needing 14 from the final six balls. They didn't get close as Hamid Hasan ran out Peter Connell from the first ball and castled Mooney off the second to secure Afghanistan a sensational start in their quest to reach a global tournament.

Speaking after the game Porterfield was very disappointed with the way his side, fancied before the tournament, imploded today. "We lost it all round really. I don't think we deserved anything from the game, the way we went at it," he said.

"We didn't bowl badly but we probably gave them 20 or 30 runs with the amount of dropped catches. But even walking off the field, I would have taken 140, I wasn't too disappointed to be chasing that. Just the way we went about it with the bat wasn't good enough. The way we've been preparing for the last two weeks has been nowhere near that standard, and it wasn't good enough."

USA 121 for 4 (Wright 62, Cush 41) beat Scotland 120 for 7 (Hamilton 41, Darlington 2-19, Dhaniram 1-12) by six wickets

Scorecard

A 97-run partnership between Carl Wright and Lennox Cush helped USA to an unexpected six-wicket victory over Scotland in the opening game of the World Twenty20 Qualifiers at Abu Dhabi.

Coming together after the early loss of Sushil Nadkarni, the pair compiled their runs at better than a run-a-ball to guide USA to within striking distance of victory. Wright struck eight fours on the way to a 57-ball 62, and Cush was no less enterprising, with three fours and a six in his 41.

Wright's dismissal, trapped lbw by Jan Stander with victory in sight, sparked a mini collapse as three wickets fell for no runs. Cush picked out Richie Berrington off Ryan Watson's medium pace, and Timroy Allen - the hero of USA's thrilling one-wicket win over UAE in the warm-ups - fell without scoring as USA slipped to 114 for 4. But Sudesh Dhaniram and captain Steve Massiah played a calm hand to ensure no further blips, sealing the win off the first ball of the 20th over.

Though Wright thoroughly deserved the Man-of-the-Match award for his match-winning half-century, the victory was set up by a solid team effort from USA's bowlers, who took the pressure off their batsmen by pegging Scotland back.

Usman Shuja began in superb fashion, getting rid of the dangerous Kyle Coetzer with his second ball. Orlando Baker then bowled Navdeep Poonia before he could get going, and Rashard Marshall and Wright combined to run out Fraser Watts and reduce Scotland to 42 for 3 in the ninth over.

Dhaniram kept the reins on the middle order with an extremely frugal spell, conceding just 12 runs in his four overs and picking up the vital wicket of Gavin Hamilton for 41. Stander's bright cameo lifted Scotland's score in the closing overs, but a target of 121 was never going to be a stern test, even for USA's brittle top order.

Keith Dutch, the former Middlesex and Somerset offspinner, will captain a young Marylebone Cricket Club team on its tour of United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Oman starting on February 20.

The team also includes former England A and Gloucestershire player Kadeer Ali on the tour, which is a mixture of 50 over and Twenty20 matches against the UAE and Oman national teams and UAE club teams.

MCC squad: Keith Dutch (Capt.) (Middlesex, Somerset), Tom Allin (Cardiff MCCU), Adnan Akram (Essex), Arfan Akram (Essex), David Balcolmbe (Hampshire), Eddie Ballard (Cambridge MCCU), Gregg Brown (Bath CC), Kadeer Ali (Gloucestershire), Will Gidman (MCC Young Cricketers, Durham), Luke Jarvis (East Bierley CC), Richard King (Loughborough/Northamptonshire), Steve Snell (wk) (Gloucestershire), Jonathon Wightman (Durham MCCU, South Northumberland CC); Tim Robinson (Nottinghamshire & First Class Umpire)

Itinerary: February 20 v Emirates Palace Gentlemen (Twenty20) (Abu Dhabi); February 21 (day/night) v Abu Dhabi XI (50 overs) (Abu Dhabi); February 23 v United Arab Emirates (50 overs) (Abu Dhabi); February 25 v Sharjah XI (50 overs) (Sharjah); February 27 v Fly Emirates (50 overs) (Dubai); February 28 v Oman (Twenty20) (Muscat); March 1 v Oman (50 overs) (Muscat)

Hamid Hassan

We are very excited ahead of the World Twenty20 Qualifier after a very good tour of Sri Lanka, where, even though we didn’t win every game, we played well in some of our matches.

Nobody knows what will happen in Twenty20 cricket – we are just all determined to do our best and all contribute whether it is with the bat, the ball or in the field. We were bitterly disappointed to miss out on qualification for next year’s 50-over World Cup, even though we did really well to progress through the World Cricket League, so people at home are really willing us to do well.

They want to watch us play on television in a big international tournament against the likes of England, India and South Africa. The Under-19 team had a chance to play on television during the Under-19 World Cup and the senior team wants to have a taste of the action as well.

We are a much more experienced team than when we played at the World Cup Qualifier last year. We owe a lot to our coach, Kabir Khan, and we have played so much cricket in the past year we feel more comfortable dealing with high pressure situations.

Our fielding has improved a lot compared to when we first played in the World Cricket League and our batting and bowling has developed as well.

I have always enjoyed playing Twenty20 cricket – it is a good challenge for a bowler and if I get the chance to bat I like hitting the ball a long way. I really enjoyed my innings at the ACC event last year when I hit 10 off the final two balls to win a match against the UAE.

The UAE is somewhere that I enjoy playing my cricket and I had a good record with the ball at the ACC Twenty20 last year. I like the wickets, I am used to the warm weather – it is similar to home – and I like spending time in Dubai. Our hotel is not very near any of the shops, but I would like to have a chance to go the shopping malls here if I can as I love to go shopping.

We are expecting to have lots of support, as there are lots of Afghan people living in the UAE, and lots of people came to watch us at the ACC event. I know that my hero, Andrew Flintoff, lives in Dubai and it would be my dream if he came to watch me play in one of the games this week and see me bowl. I have watched him play many times for England on the television, so it would be very special if he came to see me.

I am really looking forward to our first game. It will be a tough challenge on Tuesday against Ireland, who played very well to beat us in Sri Lanka, although some of our players were carrying injuries so perhaps we couldn’t fight as well as normal.

Even though we made a disappointing total, we made them work very hard for their runs, so we are still feeling confident for when we play them at Sports City. After all the preparation and warm-ups, I can’t wait for the action to begin.

Lalit Modi, the IPL chairman, has confirmed plans to stage tournaments outside India, and is keen on staging events in the US.

The second season of the IPL, in 2009, was forced to move from India to South Africa because of security concerns but the success of the tournament has persuaded League chiefs to explore other opportunities.

"There are plans in the works to hold IPL matches overseas and we hope to be able to provide fans all around the world with the live IPL cricketing carnival experience," said Modi. "We are looking at a shorter version of the league post the IPL seasons, which will help us take the game to the fans across the globe. Initially we are looking at markets which have large Indian and cricket loving populations such as USA, Singapore, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Bangkok, Middle East, Canada and others."

"We will also host a few matches in the US in the next 18 months or so. My team have started examining venues and dates which may be available for this in the summer months. The duration for all these tournaments will be short and compact.

"Along with these markets, South Africa will undoubtedly be high on our priority list after seeing the astounding response we received during IPL season 2009. The remarkable success achieved there will obviously see us want to go back there soon."

Suriname 187 for 7 (Ramjohn 40, Baker 30, Seeraj 30) beat Bahamas 186 for 9 (Tappin 63, Weakley 36, Ramjohn 3-21) by three wickets

Panama 184 for 3 (Bhakta 54, Tarajia 50, Chohan 45) beat Turks & Caicos Islands 179 (Caesar 65, Ash 52, Tarajia 5-39) by five runs

The Bahamas captured the ICC Americas Division 2 title despite losing a thriller against Suriname on Saturday. Winning the toss, Suriname elected to field in a match reduced to 35 overs due to a wet ground. Bahamas started nervously, with memories of the previous Division 2 event, and crumbled to 19 for 4 after eight overs.

However, a 71-run fifth wicket stand between Ryan Tappin and Jon Barry (33), got the hosts back on track and helped them finish on 186 for 9.

Suriname lost an early wicket during their chase but steady contributions down the order meant the visitors overhauled the target with nine balls to spare.

It was the second instance when Suriname defeated Bahamas in the final game of a tournament. However, this time, Bahamas had a net run-rate that secured the title and promotion for the Division 1 tournament in Bermuda later this year.

In the second game at Windsor Park, Panama easily won over the Turks and Caicos Islands. Panama's skipper Irfan Tarajia capped off a brilliant tournament with an all-round effort. He captured 5 for 39 and then scored a classic 50 which included five fours and four sixes.

His efforts earned him the Man-of-the-Match award as Panama reached their target with seven wickets intact. For the Turks and Caicos, Rohan Ash and captain Ebbion Caesar led the way in getting them to 193 all out in the 39th over. During the reply, Tarajia was supported by Soyab Chohan and Nilesh Bhakta.

The Bahamas Cricket Association held a wonderful closing ceremony and presentation night for the visiting teams. Brazil, who finished last, had the honour of capturing three of the four individual awards. Bahamas will be promoted to the Division 1 tournament scheduled for Bermuda in May-June, while Brazil will be demoted to Division 3 and will to try to re-qualify for Division 2 next year.

Tony Munro

Bahamas 300 for 6 (Roye 74, Tappin 98, Taylor 38*; Patel 2 for 42, Tarajiya 2 for 70) beat Panama 195 (Chohan 46, Balbulta 27; Ekanyake 6 for 18, Roye 2 for 45) by 105 runs

Brazil 244 for 9 (Caisley 130, Lefevre 46; Saunders 2 for 22, Johnstone 2 for 33, Ash 2 for 41) lost to Turks & Caicos Islands 246 for 4 (Ash 97, Browne 104*; Hartmann 2 for 69 by 6 wickets

Bahamas took a giant stride towards winning the Americas Division Two title with a convincing 105-run win over Panama in the battle of the unbeaten teams in Nassau, Bahamas on Friday.

It now means Suriname must not only win the last day showdown against Bahamas, but win quickly, as must Panama who can theoretically win the tournament if they beat Turks & Caicos emphatically enough to dramatically lift their net run-rate.

The foundation for a large Bahamian total was laid by a 125-run partnership between Howard Roye and Ryan Tappin in 25 overs before Roye was out for 74 from 90 balls including 11 fours and a six. Tappin maintained the pace for Bahamas reaching 98 before he was bowled by allrounder Irfan Tarajiya. The intensity of the Bahamian hitting increased markedly as the last 14 overs produced 129 runs thanks in part to Gregory Taylor (38 from 21 balls including three fours and two sixes) and Narendra Ekanyake (18 from 19 balls).

Panama began their chase confidently hitting 78 runs from 10 overs before the introduction of slow left armer Ekanyake into the attack. He took six Panamanian wickets for just 18 runs in his 10 runs to snare the Man-of-the-Match award.

Turks & Caicos Islands ensured their place in Division Two with a six-wicket win over Brazil at Windsor Park, Nassau. After winning the toss and electing to bat, Brazilian captain Greigor Causley continued his prolific ways smashing 130 from 113 balls, including 13 fours and two sixes. However, the only real support he received was from opening partner Guilherm Lefevre (46) and the South Americans were bowled out for 244.

Turks & Caicos opener Rohan Ash tried to join the tournament's lengthy list of centurions only to be given out lbw on 97. Middle-order batsman Douglas Brown achieved that feat though, hitting 104 in just 71 balls, including 13 fours and five sixes, earning the Man-of-the-Match award. Ash and Browne put on 185 runs in only 23 overs, scoring at more than eight runs per over to guide the Islanders home.

Brazil's tournament and stay in Division Two is over, while Turks & Caicos Islands face Panama on Saturday and Bahamas takes on Suriname in what could be the game which decides the tournament.

Kenya 126 for 0 (Obuya 65*, Tikolo 56*) beat Scotland 123 (Stander 45, Odhiambo 5-20) by 10 wickets

Nehemiah Odhiambo grabbed five wickets to trounce Scotland's top order and set up a reinvigorated Kenya's second 10-wicket victory of the Twenty20 tri-series in Nairobi. Scotland were bowled out three balls short of 20 overs, with Odhiambo taking 5 for 20 before David Obuya and Steve Tikolo once again made short work of the bowling attack to seal the win with more than five overs to spare.

Kenya's spinners have been their main weapon in this tournament, but today it was the seamers that did the damage. Odhiambo picked up both openers in his first spell after Kyle Coetzer and Ryan Watson had made a bright start. His namesake Nelson Odhiambo then bowled Fraser Watts before he had scored, and with Neil McCallum run out he then found the edge of Richie Berrington's bat as a surging Kenya reduced Scotland to 38 for 5.

Then came the fightback, with Gavin Hamilton and Jan Stander adding 65 in quick time to take Scotland past 100. Stander crashed three sixes on his way to 45 before he had his stumps clattered by Nehemiah, who repeated the act with his very next ball, bowling Gordon Drummond for his fifth wicket. After Majid Haq's run-out, Dewald Nel managed to clear the boundary once before he was dismissed in similar fashion to end Scotland's innings.

In a repeat of the last game between these two teams, Obuya and Tikolo charged out of the blocks at the start of the run chase with a masterful display of power hitting. While Nel and Berrington escaped largely unscathed, the rest of the bowlers were dealt with in brutal fashion, with Watson and Drummond coming in for particularly harsh treatment.

Scotland and Kenya meet again in only three days at the World Twenty20 Qualifiers in Dubai. Though they will no doubt face tougher opposition in Dubai, the scale of Kenya's dominance in this warm-up will be an ominous sign for the other teams at the tournament.

Afghanistan 143 for 5 (Sadiq 42, Nabi 23, Baidwan 3-23) beat Canada 140 for 6 (Bagai 56) by five wickets

It was another team effort from Afghanistan as they picked up their first win of the tournament, beating Canada by five wickets. It was still anybody's game when Afghanistan needed 36 off the final four overs, before Mohammad Nabi's cameo at No. 6 took them to the brink of victory, and a cool Samiullah Shenwari finished the job with a ball to spare.

Choosing to bat, Canada were propped up by a third-wicket stand of 63 between Abdool Samad and wicketkeeper-captain Ashish Bagai. Bagai went on to score 53 off 42 balls, hitting seven fours, as Canada finished on a disappointing total, given the recent high scores at the SSC.

Openers Karim Sadiq and Noor Ali, making his debut, ensured Afghanistan made a bright start, putting on 66 by the 10th over. But Canada fought back to take three wickets in three overs to reduce to Afghanistan to 105 for 4 in the 16th over. But three fours in Nabi's 12-ball 23 tilted the balance and it was left to captain Nowroz Mangal and Shenwari to see them home in a tight finish.

Tony Munro

Suriname 384 for 5 (Singh 159, Sewanan 73, Vishram 47, Dudnath 31*; Hartmann 3-77) beat Brazil 220 for 6 (Caisley 45, Islam 27, Lefebvre 67*, Ramjohn 3-34) by 164 runs

Bahamas 363 for 4 (M Taylor 141, Barry 117, Weakley 40, Gilbert 2-62) beat Turks & Caicos Islands 173 for 4 (Ash 60, Browne 54*; Armstrong 2-35) by 190 runs

Three centuries highlighted an avalanche of runs as Suriname and Bahamas scored emphatic wins on day three of the Americas Division Two tournament in Nassau, Bahamas on Wednesday.

Over 1100 runs were scored as Suriname thrashed newcomers Brazil by 164 runs and Bahamas walloped Turks & Caicos Islands by 190 runs. Interestingly, the team batting first has won every game by at least 100 runs in the tournament so far.

Vishaul Singh's 159 off 118 balls was not only the highest individual score of the tournament, but a Surinamese record in non-Test limited-overs internationals. His innings included 20 fours and three sixes as he propelled Suriname to 387 for 5 in 50 overs. Singh combined with Raj Sewanan (73) in an opening partnership of 137 to set the platform. Rudyard Hartmann was Brazil's main wicket-taker with 3 for 77. Brazil replied in spirited fashion, despite captain Greigor Causley (45) being run out. Middle-order batsman Guilherme Lefebvre hit nine fours in his unbeaten 71-ball 67 which typified Brazil's fighting attitude. Shazam Ramjohn took 3 for 34 for Suriname but Singh picked up the Man-of-the-Match award.

There was even more big hitting in the other match on the artificial surface at Windsor Park as Bahamas left-hand opener Marc Taylor smashed 141 runs off just 88 balls. His innings included six fours and 11 sixes, but he had a like-minded ally in Jonathon Barry who hit 117 off 132 balls. Along the way, Barry struck 13 fours and two sixes as he combined with Taylor for a third-wicket partnership of 147, which lifted Bahamas to 363 for 4. Turks & Caicos opted to avoid embarrassment and bat out their 50 overs, compiling 173 for 4 thanks to 60 from Rohan Ash and Douglas Browne's unbeaten 54.

Meanwhile, Panama enjoyed a bye and following Thursday's general rest day, they should be fresh for its crucial encounter on Friday with the other unbeaten team, Bahamas. Last place should be decided as well with Turks & Caicos facing Brazil.

As the Associate nations prepare for the World Twenty20 Qualifier tournament, which begins February 9 in the UAE, there is one fixture in Group A that jumps out at you. In perhaps the most intriguing sporting event of recent times, USA will face Afghanistan.

It's a match that will reverberate beyond the cricketing world as people try to imbue it with a progressive significance. Amidst all kinds of domestic turmoil Afghanistan have risen rapidly to become one of the best Associate nations and they will be desperate to secure a berth in the main World Twenty20, which takes place in West Indies in April.

They were within a whisker of qualifying for the 50-over World Cup last year and have impressed in the Intercontinental Cup, beating defending champions Ireland and the Netherlands.

"The match against the USA will be an interesting and exciting one," said Afghanistan captain Nawroz Mangal. "But it will just be another game of cricket in which both the sides will try as hard as possible hard to emerge winner. Like any other opponent, we respect the USA and know we cannot afford to be complacent against them.

"Initially, we started off with a reputation of being a good Twenty20 side because this is the format that is played and popular in Afghanistan. But in the last 18 months, we have shown that we can adopt and excel in any format. Personally, I believe we are a better Twenty20 side simply because we have more experience in the shortest version of the game.

"Our group is a tough one with Ireland and Scotland having loads of international experience. But I am quite optimistic that after narrowly missing out on next year's 50-over World Cup, we'll be able to qualify for the World Twenty20. We just need a good start in the tournament and our big boys need to fire throughout the next week."

For their part, the USA comes to this event plenty to prove. Having fallen down the rankings in recent years they only made it to the qualifiers as a wildcard entry, along with hosts United Arab Emirates.

"We are feeling very positive and very confident," said USA captain Steve Massiah. "Judging from the way we played in the last tournament, which was the Americas Cup, we feel good. We want to make the most of the opportunity to play in this event and we are all looking forward to it."

Keen observers will notice the name of Lennox Cush in the USA team, he was in the Stanford Superstars squad that defeated England in 2008, and Massiah wants to draw on his experience. "Lennox is very important as he has had the opportunity to play a lot of Twenty20 cricket and was part of that Stanford squad. He is very experienced and hopefully this will rub off on the other players."

Panama remained undefeated with an easy 111-run win over Brazil on the second day of the Pepsi ICC Americas Division 2 at Windsor Park. Panama elected to bat and after losing their openers on 26, the captain Irfan Tarajia and Soyab Chohan added some stability with a stand of 56. Rajesh Ahir then smashed 79 off 69 balls, with good support from Munaf Kachhalia (41) as Panama posted 291. Rudyard Hartmann had another good day with the ball capturing 3 for 57 while Ravindra Chanchlani took 3 for 36.

Brazil got off to a good start, with their openers Greigor Caisley (49) and Guilherme Lefèvre (28) adding 73. Deodat Randolph top scored with an unbeaten 64 at No.4, but the rest failed to reach double figures as Brazil was dismissed for 180 in the 39th over. Nilesh Bhakta was Panama's best bowler with 3 for 26.

In the other match at Haynes Oval, Suriname breezed past Turks & Caicos Islands with a 109-run victory. Suriname wicketkeeper Anthony Seeraj top scored with an unbeaten 49 to guide them to 263. While there were no large scores, eight batsmen reached double figures.

Turks & Caicos lost wickets at regular intervals and were bowled out for 154 in the 35th over. Opener Errion Charles smashed ten fours in his 70, the top score of the innings. Terbhawan Ranjit captured 6 for 41 in 7.2 overs and not surprisingly, was named the Man of the Match for his efforts.

The third day of the tournament will see Brazil playing Suriname at the Haynes Oval, while Turks & Caicos takes on the home side Bahamas at Windsor Park.

Panama 291 (Tarajiya 47, R Ahir 79, Kachhalia 41, Chanchlani 3-36, Hartmann 3-57, Islam 2-69) beat Brazil 180 (Caisley 49, Lefevre 28, Randolph 64*, Bhakta 3-26, Chohan 1-13, Kachhalia 1-14, Vhora 1-18) by 111 runs

Suriname 263 (Sewanan 35, Patrick 30, Gokoel 31, Seeraj 49*, Doughty 2-20, Saunders 2-29, Gilbert 2-53, Brown 2-59) beat Turks & Caicos Islands 154 (Charles 70; Ranjit 6-41, Dudnath 2-22, Gokoel 1-30, Baker 1-42)

Panama 303 (Bhakta 48, Tarajiya 47, Chohan 69; Singh 3-35) beat Suriname 181 (Sewanan 31, Amir 4-28) by 122 runs.

Bahamas 304 (Peters 62, Taylor 40, Tappin 40, Hartman 4 for 57) beat Brazil 112 (Caisley 26, Ekanayake 3-44) by 192 runs.

Expectations of a classic final in the Pepsi ICC Americas Division 2 Championship between Suriname and Bahamas took a sudden change with Suriname going down to a convincing defeat at the hands of Panama on day one of the event. It was the third Americas tournament in a row Panama has beaten Suriname.

Panama won the toss and decided to bat on the artificial surface of Windsor Park. A solid opening partnership of 121 between Nilesh Bhakta (48) and Imran Bulbuia set the stage for a large target. The opening stand was followed by useful contributions from Irfan Tarajia (47) and skipper Soyab Chohan (69) as Panama reached a respectable innings of 303 in its 50 overs. Vishaul Singh remained the most successful bowler for Suriname taking 3-35 in six overs.

The defending champions started their reply in a confident manner with openers Vishaul Singh and Deraj Sewanan putting on 61 in ten overs, but when Singh was dismissed, the rest of the batting line up showed little resistance and it was dismissed for 181 all out in the 40th over. Panama's Sailesh Amir was the pick of the bowlers taking 4-28. With its effective all-round performance on the first day, Panama now joins the Bahamas as the teams to watch for in the Championship.

On the turf wicket at the Haynes Oval, host Bahamas had an easy day against newly-promoted Brazil. The South Americans lost their captain Matt Featherstone to an injury prior to the tournament and it was very obvious his batting talent was sadly missed. Bahamas won the toss and elected to bat on a good strip.

Marc Taylor (40), Ryan Tappin (40) and Jon Barry (47) gave the home side a solid foundation but it was Albert Peters (62), batting at number eight, who entertained the crowd with seven fours and three sixes off 44 balls. Rudyard Hartman was Brazil's most successful bowler taking 4-57. Chasing a target of 305 was never going to be easy for Brazil and it was bowled out to 112 all out in the 33rd over. Greigor Caisley followed his tidy work behind the stumps with a useful 26 with the bat. The home side got a fine bowling performance from Narendra Ekanayake who took 3-44 in five overs.

The second day of the tournament will see Turks and Caicos play Suriname at the Haynes Oval, while Panama tackles Brazil at Windsor Park.

Tony Munro

A place in the Americas Championships in Bermuda in May and boasting rights as the region's top Affiliate nation will be up for grabs when the Americas Division Two tournament starts on Monday. Hosts Bahamas and 2008 Division Two champion Suriname are expected to be the main contenders for the trip to Bermuda, in what will be a continuation of the rivalry from the previous tournament.

Suriname caused a shock when it inflicted a 148-run loss on the tournament favourites in 2008, snaring the Affiliates' spot at the Americas Championships in the process. The South Americans have retained the bulk of that squad, including 19-year-old allrounder Troy Dudnauth, who was player of the tournament. Dudnauth, who also took 5 for 21 against Bahamas, is one of the six Suriname-born players in the squad.

Also returning will be the experienced opener Raj Sewanan, who plays the Suriname off-season in New York, and allrounder Arun Gokoel, who, at 22, is already a veteran of five tournaments and will play a key role in the middle order.

Bahamas will be led by 22-year-old allrounder Gregory Taylor. He will have considerable experience around him, including former captain Narendra Ekanayake, Gary Armstrong, Dwight Weakley and Jonathon Barry. Though aged just 16, Jermaine Adderley has captained the Under-19 team at regional level. In the team's last outing in May 2008, they finished eleventh at the World Cricket League Division Five. Six of the squad are born in the Bahamas.

Another team with a point to prove will be Brazil, making their debut at the regional Division Two level. They qualified with a surprise win over Chile in the Americas Division Three tournament last October. Sadly, they will be without captain and star player Matt Featherstone, who is unavailable. In his absence, opener Greigor Causley will step up to assume the reigns. Paceman Rudyard Hartmann will also be a key member of the attack while brothers Daniel and Alexandre Miziara can be lusty hitters and bowl useful off spin. Brazil includes six players who were born in the country.

Panama finished the 2008 tournament level on points with Suriname and Bahamas and it was only the run-rate which placed them third. They beat Suriname in the last two Division Two tournaments, and could well decide who takes the crown this time. Allrounder Irfan Tarajiya has scored a century at this level and reliable opener Soyab Chohan ensures the Panama innings gets off to a solid start. Peculiarly, five members of the squad have the surname Ahir, but are not related.

Turks & Caicos Islands will be led by opener Ebbon Caesar who has a century against Peru to his credit. Unfortunately, allrounder Donovan Mathews, their best player in the 2008 event, has moved to St. Kitts. Cricket is played on two islands - Providenciales, where there are six teams and Grand Turk, with three. The team's best showing since first appearing in ICC tournaments in 2004 was last year, when they won Division Three on points difference.

In Monday's opening matches, Brazil face Bahamas, while Suriname play Panama. Turks & Caicos Islands have the bye.