Ireland's cricketers clinched a second consecutive appearance at the World Cup, beating the Netherlands by six wickets in an ICC qualifying tournament in Pretoria on Wednesday. Winning the toss and opting to field, Ireland's seamers struck regularly to limit the Netherlands to 222. Ireland's opening batsmen laid a solid platform with a stand of 60 for the first wicket. Then scores of 78 from captain William Porterfield and 76 from Eoin Morgan ensured a comfortable victory with more than five overs remaining. Afghanistan defeated Scotland by 42 runs to keep its hopes alive of gaining full one-day international status. Scotland elected to field after winning the toss but were simply outplayed and are now in danger of failing to qualify for the 2011 tournament. The Scots must now beat the United Arab Emirates on Friday and hope that other results go their way for them to gain one of the four qualification spots. Spearheaded by Karim Khan, who scored 92 including 10 fours, and by captain Nowroz Mangal's 72, Afghanistan set Scotland an imposing target of 279. That Scotland even came close was thanks to a fine innings by Kyle Coetzer, who made 91, and Gavin Hamilton's 71. However, with 158 needed off the final 20 overs, not even some good hitting by the pair could lift Scotland and, after losing wickets at regular intervals, the end came with 17 balls remaining. Afghanistan coach Kabir Khan took pride in his team's performance. “We are acting like a giant killer in this tournament,” he said. “I am very proud of my boys and it shows that it wasn't a fluke that we got through the World Cup qualifying rounds.” In other matches, Canada won the toss and elected to bat before going down heavily to the United Arab Emirates, who chased down Canada's 196, scoring 200-5 in 31 overs and two balls. Namibia trounced Kenya, winning by 201 runs after the Kenyans won the toss and elected to field. An opening partnership of 191 in 31.1 overs by Jan-Berrie Burger and Raymond van Schoor, which was only broken when Burger tried to hit Lameck Onyango out of the ground and was stumped, set up the victory as Namibia posted an impressive 305 runs. Kenya's batsmen were never in the chase and were all out for 104 in just 30 overs. Scores: Ireland 226-4 in 44.3 overs (William Porterfield 78, Eoin Morgan 76; Edgar Schiferli 1-38) def. Netherlands 222 in 50 overs (Alexei Kervezee 77; Alex Cusack 3-26, Boyd Rankin 3-48) by six wickets. Afghanistan 279 in 50 overs (Karim Khan 92, Nowroz Mangal 72; Craig Wright 2-41, Jan Nel 2-52) def. Scotland 237 in 47.1 overs (Kyle Coetzer 91, Gavin Hamilton 71; Shapoor Zadran 3-36, Karim Khan 2-44, Hamid Hassan 2-45) by 42 runs. United Arab Emirates 200-5 in 31.2 overs (Khurram Khan 53 not out, Amjad Javed 40; Sandeep Jyoti 2-47) def. Canada 194 in 49.5 overs (Sandeep Jyoti 43; Saqib Ali 3-20, Khurram Khan 2-23) by five wickets. Namibia 305 in 49.5 overs (Jan-Berrie Burger 125, Raymond van Schoor 61; Lameck Onyango 3-68) def Kenya 104 in 30 overs (Maurice Ouma 27; Sarel Burger 4-29, Louis Klazinga 3-27) by 201 runs. Botha in trouble again South Africa spinner Johan Botha faces a second suspension after he was reported by match officials for a suspect bowling action during the one-day international victory over Australia at Port Elizabeth. Botha took 1-48 in South Africa's 61-run victory on Monday and the International Cricket Council announced on Tuesday that on-field umpires Brian Jerling and Asoka de Silva and third umpire Rudi Koertzen were concerned about his quicker delivery and his “doosra.”
