Afghanistan and Namibia on course for finals
Afghanistan and Namibia extended their unbeaten runs in the World Twenty20 qualifiers to five wins each on Sunday with Afghan all-rounder Samiullah Shenwari hitting a fifty and taking four wickets in the win over Canada.
Afghanistan defeated Canada by 41 runs to stay on top of Group A while Namibia defeated Kenya by seven wickets to head Group B.
In other crucial matches, the Netherlands made short work of Papua New Guinea by nine wickets to record their fourth win and Nepal beat Bermuda by 24 runs a third win in Group A.
In Group B, Ireland had the better of traditional rivals Scotland by 17 runs which gave William Porterfield's side a fourth win while Italy are back in contention thanks to a 13-run victory over Uganda.
Shenwari's performance stood out as the all-rounder first scored 61 off 34 balls with six fours and three sixes in his side's 174 for eight against Canada.
He then returned figures of 4-0-14-4 as Canada was restricted to 133 for nine.
"I am grateful that I was given a chance to bat higher up the order. I am very happy to take four wickets and score 61 runs. We are all feeling very confident and I am hoping we will have six wins from six and then seven wins from seven," he said.
"It is up to the players to keep working hard and concentrate on the cricket. We are very happy to have Kabir Khan back coaching us and things are going well."
In the Namibia-Kenya match, Namibia's Louis Klazinga took four for nine as Kenya lost their last nine wickets for 24 runs to be bowled out for 108 in 18.4 overs.
In reply, Namibia chased down the target with 21 balls and seven wickets to spare with Raymond van Schoor returning undefeated on 49.
Ireland prevailed over Scotland by 17 runs. Ed Joyce clubbed the last two deliveries of Ireland's innings for sixes to lift his side to 159 for five.
Scotland finished at 142 for seven, despite Kyle Coetzer's 62 off 52 balls.
Nepal captain Paras Khadka hit an unbeaten 65 and claimed one for 31 to help his side score a 24-run victory over Bermuda.
"Bermuda didn't play that badly against us but they were always going to struggle to chase down 150 against our bowling. It was a good effort by our bowlers but maybe we could have improved a bit, but that's always the case in any game," said Khadka.
The 16 teams in the UAE are vying for two spots in the 2012 World Twenty20 to be played in Sri Lanka in September and October.
Brief scores
Group A
Afghanistan 174-8, 20 overs (Samiullah Shenwari 61, Karim Sadiq 36, Mohammad Shahzad 27; Zahid Hussain 3-16, Harvir Baidwan 2-49) v Canada 133-9, 20 overs (Nitish Kumar 38, Samiullah Shenwari 4-14, Dawlat Zadran 2-23)
Result: Afghanistan beat Canada by 41 runs
Hong Kong 170-5, 20 overs (Irfan Ahmed 91, James Atkinson 31, Babar Hayat 28; Bobby Chawla 3-19) v Denmark 135-9, 20 overs (Aftab Ahmed 39, Frederik Klokker 27, Kamran Mahmood 25; Kinchit Shah 4-21, Munir Dar 2-18)
Result: Hong Kong beat Denmark by 35 runs
Papua New Guinea 140-7, 20 overs (Tony Ura 70, Chris Amini 44; Peter Borren 3-24, Michael Swart 2-20) v Netherlands 141-1, 16.1 overs (Michael Swart 59 not out, Stephan Myburgh 52)
Result: Netherlands beat PNG by nine wickets
Nepal 151-6, 20 overs (Paras Khadka 65 not out, Sharad Vesawkar 44; Curt Stovell 4-25, Josclyn Pitcher 2-29) v Bermuda 127-5, 20 overs (Janeiro Tucker 32, David Hemp 26; Shakti Gauchan 3-17)
Result: Nepal beat Bermuda by 24 runs
Group B
Ireland 159-5, 20 overs (Ed Joyce 78 not out, Gary Wilson 26, Alex Cusack 22; Majid Haq 2-18) v Scotland 142-7, 20 overs (Kyle Coetzer , Fraser Watts 33; Kevin O'Brien 3-34, Trent Johnston 2-23)
Result: Ireland beat Scotland by 17 runs
Kenya 108 all out, 18.4 overs (Duncan Allan 40, Collins Obuya 31; Louis Klazinga 4-9, Christoffel Viljoen 2-5) v Namibia 109-3, 16.3 overs (Raymond van Schoor 49 not out, Gerrie Snyman 22)
Result: Namibia beat Kenya by seven wickets
USA 141-7, 20 overs (Sushil Nadkarni 59, Abhimanyu Rajp 20; Zeeshan Siddiqui 2-19) v Oman 111-7, 20 overs (Vaibhav Wategaonkar 30, Adnan Ilyas 24; Japen Patil 3-29, Abhimanyu Rajp 2-23)
Result: USA beat Oman by 30 runs
Italy 131-7, 20 overs (Damian Crowley 44, Carl Sandri 26, Andrew Northcote 23; Jonathan Sebanja 2-14, Deusdedit Muhumuza 2-19) v Uganda 118 all out, 19.4 overs (Charles Waiswa 25 not out, Deusdedit Muhumuza 24; Gareth Berg 4-20)
Result: Italy beat Uganda by 13 runs
World Twenty20 qualifying tables
(played, won, lost, tied, no-result, points, net run rate):
Group A
Afghanistan 5 5 0 0 0 10 +1.764
Netherlands 5 4 1 0 0 8 +1.008
Canada 5 3 2 0 0 6 +0.396
Nepal 5 3 2 0 0 6 +0.328
Papua New Guinea 5 2 3 0 0 4 -0.005
Hong Kong 5 2 3 0 0 4 -0.196
Denmark 5 1 4 0 0 2 -2.101
Bermuda 5 0 5 0 0 0 -1.292
Group B
Namibia 5 5 0 0 0 10 +1.032
Ireland 5 4 1 0 0 8 +1.793
Italy 5 3 2 0 0 6 +0.405
Scotland 5 3 2 0 0 6 +0.340
Uganda 5 2 3 0 0 4 -0.362
Kenya 5 2 3 0 0 4 -0.897
USA 5 1 4 0 0 2 -0.648
Oman 5 0 5 0 0 0 -1.731