Ireland ease closer to 2011 World Cup

Ireland knocked down a target of 134 set by UAE in Johannesburg to all but book a place at the 2011 World Cup. Ireland had slipped to second in the Super Eight standings after a shock loss to Afghanistan on Saturday but this win, by eight wickets, has moved them to eight points from five games. UAE were in early trouble at 3 for 3 in the fourth with Boyd Rankin striking and that become worse at 38 for 6 with Peter Connell, Alex Cusack and Trent Johnston finding success. Fayyez Ahmed and Naeemuddin Aslam added 55 to steady the innings only for Roger West to snap their stand and leave UAE 106 for 9 in the 36th over. Ahmed hit 63 from 65 balls but UAE were all out for 133 in the 40th over. Ireland's chase got a strong start from William Porterfield and Gary Wilson, who added 83 in 19.4 overs. UAE shuffled their bowlers around, using nine of them, but Porterfield (37) and Wilson (49) were the only casualties as Ireland comfortably overhauled the target in 27.4 overs.

Kenya - who topped Group B in the preliminary stage - bounced back from defeat to "Canada with a 24-run win over Scotland in Krugersdorp . It was a disappointing outing for Scotland, who looked to have been on the up after beating Holland on Saturday. They had done well to keep Kenya to 178, thanks to four wickets from John Blain and a miserly 2 for 15 from Craig Wright before the openers got off to a brisk start by posting 24 in four overs. Then the experienced Thomas Odoyo removed Gavin Hamilton in the ninth over to start the downfall; Lameck Onyango's strikes made it 39 for 3 before Nehemiah Odhiambo struck. Odhiambo's orderly spell of medium-pace accounted for three batsmen and put Scotland under plenty of pressure. Onyango came back to wipe out the tail for figures of 4 for 26. Earlier, Blain had taken two wickets in the seventh over to dismiss Kennedy Otieno and Alex Obanda and had Steve Tikolo lbw two overs later. Wright's dismissal of Morris Ouma for 19 left Kenya 49 for 4. Collins Obuya (32) and Odoyo added 49 for the fifth wicket but Wright returned to snap that before Jan Stander, Dewald Nel and Blain finished off the innings.

"We've got to be a bit stronger at the top with batting and we've got to maintain good discipline with our bowling," said Scotland coach Peter Steindl told PA Sport. "We'll now be focusing on the next game in two days' time. The top order have worked hard over the winter, they've prepared well, but things haven't worked to plan since being out here. We do need to address the issue and be tighter in our batting up front.''

Namibia stayed rooted to the bottom of the table after Ryan ten Doeschate slammed an unbeaten 134 to guide Netherlands to a two-wicket victory in Benoni. After choosing to field, Netherlands' bowlers were tidy without getting the breakthroughs, and half-centuries from Raymond van Schoor and Sarel Burger took Namibia to 126 for 1 in the 33rd over. Namibia lost a slew of wickets soon after but cameos from Craig Williams (43 from 31 balls) and Nicholaas Scholtz (33 off 20) lifted them to 258. Netherlands' chase stuttered initially, slipping to 14 for 2, but was stabilised by a 131-run stand between ten Doeschate and opener Alexei Kervezee (52). More steadying was called for after a pair of quick wickets, and Peter Borren provided ten Doeschate the necessary support. There were still some anxious moments for Netherlands as wickets fell in a bunch, but ten Doeschate steered them to a win that kept them at the fourth spot.

Click here to read Will Luke's bulletin of Canada's six-wicket win over Afghanistan in Pretoria.

After a tumultuous week, during which they were stripped of ODI status, Bermuda signed off from a disappointing tournament with a whopping eight-wicket win over Uganda in Potchefstroom to seal the No. 9 spot. It was rather amazing. Having allowed Uganda to post a mammoth 352, David Hemp and Steven Outerbridge slammed centuries to seal an unlikely chase. Hemp added 77 for the opening wicket with Fiqre Crockwell (28) but that was just the warm-up. With Outerbridge, Hemp larruped 223 in 31.2 overs to utterly flummox the Ugandan bowlers. Hemp struck 11 boundaries and five sixes in an unbeaten 170 off 14 balls. Outerbridge made 107 off 99 balls. It was a brutal finish to what was a sham of a campaign from Bermuda, and it wasn't foreseeable in the first half of the game. From 45 for 2 Uganda were lifted 60 352 for 7 by Nehal Bibodi's 109 from 109 and a blistering 98 off 63 balls from Frank Nsubuga. Hemp and Outerbridge had other ideas.

A century stand for the fifth wicket took Oman to victory over Denmark in the play-off for the 11th place in Potchefstroom. Left-arm spinner Hemal Mehta's 5 for 29 kept Denmark to 220 in 48.2 overs and after a top-order wobble, Awal Khan and Adnan Ilyas combined to almost complete the chase. Mehta came on after the rest of the attack had kept Denmark's top order in check and spun a web, including the wicket of top-scorer Michael Pedersen (72). David Borchersen lead a spirited defence with the ball, taking four early wickets to dent Oman, but Awal and Ilyas ruined any hopes of victory. Awal hit 69 from 82 balls and Ilyas remained not out on 89 from 108, putting on 56 with Farhan Khan to complete the win. The result ends a disappointing campaign for Denmark; they finish in last place and without a victory in seven matches.