Ireland cane Canada as Afghanistan fail again

Ireland outplayed Canada in the 2011 Cricket World Cup Qualifier feature match here on Monday while fairytale contenders Afghanistan lost again.

Undefeated knocks by Kevin O'Brien (89) and Eoin Morgan (84) steered pre-tournament favourites Ireland to a six-wicket triumph over Canada at Willowmoore Park.

Afghanistan, a fifth-division nation who defied heavy odds to win three earlier tournaments, could have done with some of that batting power as only Karim Sadiq (72) impressed in a five-wicket loss to the Netherlands.

Ireland, Canada, Scotland, Kenya, Netherlands and United Arab Emirates have secured places in the second-phase Super Eights with one series of first-round matches left.

The remaining Group A place rests between Namibia, Uganda and Oman while Afghanistan or Bermuda will go forward from Group B where Denmark are out of contention.

Teams finishing first to fourth in the Super Eights secure places at the World Cup in Bangladesh, India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka beside the 10 elite nations headed by defending champions Australia.

Only Geoff Barnett (49) and John Davison (41) impressed with the bat as Canada were all out for 220 and Ireland recovered from 42-4 as O'Brien and Morgan gradually cut loose.

O'Brien hit nine fours and a six off 104 balls and Morgan 10 fours and a six off 100 against a Canadian attack in which only Umar Bhatti (3-28) experienced success.

Morgan said the cheap loss of four wickets did not concern him: "I was pretty calm about it. It was a good wicket so by building a solid base I could be there at the end.

"Kevin and I compliment each other quite well at the crease. He is an aggressive player who hits boundaries pretty much anywhere he wants while I like to accumulate my runs so it was a good partnership.

"The right-left combination worked well, especially as the wicket was not turning. The spinners found it very difficult to settle and then we made it tough for them at the end," said Morgan.

Ireland, beaten at home by Scotland in the final of the previous tournament, face one-win Namibia on Wednesday and are virtually certain to take a 100 percent record into the Super Eights.

Many of the team from war-torn Afghanistan honed their skills in Pakistan refugee camps after fleeing the conflict at home and they came to South Africa hoping to complete a magical qualifying ride that began in Jersey last year.

But fears about batting depth were exposed on Saturday by Kenya and 204-9 was never going to be enough against the Dutch, who amassed 208-5 in 46.2 overs.

Daan van Bunge led the way with an undefeated 65, including two sixes, as Netherlands climbed from 80-4 against an Afghan attack that found the going tough apart from two-wicket Mohammad Nabi.

The other matches brought wins for Scotland over Uganda, Namibia over Oman, Kenya over Bermuda and UAE over Denmark in a clash that saw the highest team and individual scores so far with Amjad Javed contributing 164 of 379 runs.