Afghanistan and Uganda seal place in ICC Cricket World Cup Qualifier; Hong Kong remain in Division 3

Afghanistan and Uganda have secured places in April's ICC Cricket World Cup Qualifier to be played in South Africa. Both teams won their replayed matches by wide margins against Cayman Islands and Argentina respectively to secure the points and advance their run-rates above that of Papua New Guinea, who were unlucky to miss out.

Afghanistan finished with the best run-rate of the three teams tied on points at the top of the table and were duly awarded the Division 3 title. It has been a tremendous year for them, having also secured the Division 5 (played in Jersey) and Division 4 (played in Tanzania) titles over the past 12 months. The well-travelled Afghanis now have the chance to book a place in the 2011 Cricket Cup if they can secure a top 4 finish at the 12-team ICC Cricket World Cup Qualifier.

Afghanistan's victory over Cayman Islands condemned the Caribbean team to relegation to Division 4, while the result also ensured that Hong Kong retained their spot in Division 3.

Hong Kong, with a 2-3 win-loss record, failed to register a victory over any of the teams that finished above them. But they proved that they can mix it with teams at this level, having lost to both Uganda (1 run) and Afghanistan (13 runs) by narrow margins. With a little bit more luck and a little more finesse, Hong Kong may well have been one of the teams dreaming of World Cup glory.

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