Papua New Guinea And Kenya Take First Victories

Papua New Guinea And Kenya Take First Victories

Geraint Jones (right) plays a shot during Papua New Guinea's victory over Nepal

©International Cricket Council

Papua New Guinea and Kenya took their first wins of the ICC World Twenty20 Qualifier 2012 during the afternoon of the third day's competition, which also saw wins for the Netherlands and Scotland.

PNG, who pushed Afghanistan and Canada hard in their first two matches, beat Nepal while Kenya beat Oman who are now one of three teams yet to score a win.

GROUP A

The Netherlands held on to beat a determined Bermuda side by just four runs. Chasing 125 for nine, Bermuda needed 11 to win from the final three balls but could manage only six. Michael Swart top scored with 53 to dominate the Netherlands' batting  as Kamau Leverock and Dion Stovell took two wickets apiece. 34 not out from Stephen Outerbridge and 20 from Janeiro Tucker got Bermuda close but Timm van der Gugten's haul of four for 22 stalled them just as they were looking good for an upset and eventually they were left with too much to do.

Papua New Guinea had come close to upsets on the opening two days and they finally opened their account with a 35-run win over Nepal. 38 in 32 balls from Chris Amini and 32 from Geraint Jones saw them rack up 137 for eight - an innings which included just two fours but as many as six sixes. Nepal could not match this boundary-hitting prowess and closed on 102 for eight as all six bowlers used grabbed at least one wicket.

Standings after three matches: Afghanistan 6 points, Netherlands, Nepal, Canada 4 points, Papua New Guinea, Hong Kong, Denmark 2 points, Bermuda 0 points

GROUP B

Scotland bounced back from their defeat to Namibia by overcoming Uganda by the margin of 34 runs. Callum MacLeod struck 45 in 34 balls and Gordon Goudie 26 in ten as the Scots reached 170 for six batting first. Jonathan Sebanja impressed for Uganda by taking three for 29. With the bat, however, they were outclassed by Scotland's bowlers, for whom Preston Mommsen and Majid Haq both took three wickets. There was also a brace for Richie Berrington as they were restricted to 136 for nine.

Kenya took their first win of the tournament as they beat Oman by 35 runs in a battle of two teams vying to get off the mark. Twin half-centuries from openers Duncan Allan (51) and Alex Obanda (52) set up Kenya's victory as their opening partnership of 105 laid the foundations for their score of 176 for five. Rakep Patel added a finishing flourish with 33 not out in 16 balls. Oman made a promising start with Adnan Ilyas hammering 35 in 27 balls but fell away and eventually closed on 141 for nine. Shem Ngoche, James Ngoche and Collins Obuya all picked up two wickets.

Standings after three matches: Namibia 6 points, Ireland, Italy, Scotland, Uganda 4 points, Kenya 2 points, USA, Oman 0 points

© Cricket World 2012