Uganda and Cayman Islands qualify for ICC World Cricket League Division 3 semi-finals as ball dominates bat on second day in Darwin

Uganda and Cayman Islands booked their places in the semi-finals of the ICC World Cricket League Division 3 as ball dominated bat on the second day of the tournament in Darwin, Australia, on Monday.

Both teams made short work of their opponents, comfortably winning low-scoring games in the first session. The wins gave Uganda and Cayman Islands maximum points from two games in Group B and left Tanzania and Hong Kong winless with just one match remaining.

Uganda defeated Tanzania by four wickets at Power Park with Charles Waiswa taking 3-7 as the latter was dismissed for 64. Although Benson Mwita made the winners sweat for victory by taking 4-23, his efforts were not enough to stop Uganda romp to victory.

Cayman Islands' experience of playing in the Stanford Twenty20 tournament and the ICC Intercontinental Cup was on display for the second successive day when it recorded a one-sided eight-wicket victory over Hong Kong at Nightcliff.

Franklin Hinds was the star for Cayman Islands when he took 4-22 to bowl Hong Kong out for 67. Cayman Islands achieved the target losing just two wickets, with Keniel Irving scoring 29 not out and Pearson Best 27 not out.

Argentina bounced back from a thrilling one-wicket defeat to Italy on the opening day by recording a five-wicket victory over pre-tournament favourites Papua New Guinea (PNG) in a Group A match at Gardens.

Skipper Esteban MacDermott inspired the Argentineans by producing a match-winning spell of 4-22 as PNG were bowled out for 91. Argentina achieved the target for the loss of five wickets with Donald Forrester remaining unbeaten on 44.

MacDermott, the 24-year-old spinner, described the victory as the biggest in Argentina's cricket history.

"All the effort that was put in is now paying off. By defeating PNG, we have shown that we can compete at this level," he said.

Italy notched up its second successive victory in the competition by overpowering Fiji by 37 runs. Batting first, Italy collected 186 for nine with Nicholas Northcote top scoring with 37. In turn, Fiji was bowled out for 149.

Despite Italy's second successive win, Group B remains wide open as PNG and Argentina have one win from two games. After Tuesday's rest day, PNG will meet Italy at Nightcliff while Argetina meet Fiji at Kahlin Oval in the last group matches.

Scores in brief:

Group A
At Gardens, Argentina beat PNG by five wickets
PNG 91 all out (Esteban MacDermott 4/22)
Argentina 92/5 (Donald Forrester 44*)

At Marrarai 1, Italy beat Fiji by 37 runs
Italy 186/9 (Nicholas Northcote 35)
Fiji 149 all out

Group B
At Nightcliff, Uganda beat Tanzania by four wickets
Tanzania 64 all out (Charles Waiswa 3/7)
Uganda 70/6 (Benson Mwita 4/23)

At Power Park, Cayman Islands beat Hong Kong by eight wickets
Hong Kong 67 (Franklin Hinds 4/22)
Cayman Islands 70/2 (Keniel Irving 29*, Pearson Best 27*)

This tournament is the latest step on the road to the ICC Cricket World Cup 2011 for the eight sides taking part. The top two sides in each of the two groups will go forward to the semi-finals and the finalists will earn a place in the ICC WCL Div. 2 in Windhoek, Namibia, in November.

A top-four finish there would mean a berth at the ICC Cricket World Cup Qualifier (formerly the ICC Trophy) in the United Arab Emirates in 2009 and with it the chance to secure a spot in the next ICC Cricket World Cup, on the Asian sub-continent.