Afghanistan, Ireland And Scotland Take Day One Wins

ICC WCL Division One: Ireland, Scotland Take Wins

Alex Cusack took two wickets and then scored an unbeaten half-century as Ireland made a winning start to the competition

©REUTERS/Philip Brown (GUYANA - Tags: SPORT CRICKET) Picture Supplied by Action Images

Ireland opened their campaign with a convincing seven-wicket victory over reigning champions Kenya with Paul Stirling once again playing a starring role. Scorecard

Fresh from his 114 to defeat Canada in a warm-up game, he scored 87 in 106 balls to anchor his side's successful pursuit of 164.

Alex Cusack finished the game off with an unbeaten 59 in 95 balls as Ireland got home in just 39.5 overs and handing Kenya a crushing defeat as their tournament got off to the worst of starts.

They struggled throughout their innings, Alex Obanda hitting 40 and Collins Obuya 30 as Ireland struck regularly with Trent Johnston, Cusack and John Mooney all taking two wickets to dismiss the Kenyans in 45.3 overs.

It was a much closer affair between the Netherlands and Scotland and the game eventually came down to the last ball. Scorecard

With Scotland needing two to win, Mark Jonkman delivered a wide, and the batsmen took a run in addition to scrape home by one wicket with, thanks to the wide, a ball to spare.

Tom Cooper top scored for the Dutch with 87 and Bas Zuiderent made 55 out of their score of 234 for six as Gordons Goudie and Drummond both snared two wickets.

Before the match came down to the wire, Scotland's run chase was boosted by Moeen Iqbal's 63 and Richie Berrington's 37. Three wickets from Mudassar Bukhari almost did enough for the hosts but they were denied, with Drummond playing a crucial innings of 33 not out from number nine in the order.

Afghanistan successfully chased down 258 to beat Canada with eight balls to spare in another game that was closely-contested. Scorecard

Canada overcame a poor start to post 257 for seven thanks to 82 from Ashish Bagai and 43 from opener Hiral Patel before they were slowed by three wickets from Samiullah Shenwari.

Noor Ali then hit 50, Mohammad Shehzad 57 and Nawroz Mangal an unbeaten 70 in 58 balls to get Afghanistan off to a winning start.

© Cricket World 2010

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