An investigation is to take place into the World T20 qualifier between Afghanistan and Hong Kong played in Dublin on Tuesday.
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In pursuit of the tricky target, Hong Kong were guided by Jamie Atkinson (47) and Mark Chapman (40) – both of whom played contrasting knocks to put their team on course in the chase.
With 16 needed off the final over, Babar Hayat (20 not out) slammed Nabi (1-42) for a six and a boundary followed by a three before sealing the chase off the final ball with a brace to guide Hong Kong home.
On Wednesday, the Netherlands beat Namibia by four wickets in the second play-off to book their third Twenty20 World Cup appearance.
PNG will be hoping to go one step better after missing out at the final hurdle two years ago. It’s Hong Kong’s first ever T20 win over Afghanistan in their seventh try and means Afghanistan now must beat Papua New Guinea in an elimination match on Thursday to make it to the 2016 World Twenty20. Ashraf gave away 22 runs off his four overs, with a six hit and no fours, and took a wicket. But Shapoor Zadran, the left-arm pacer, brought Afghanistan back into the contest with the scalps of Nizakat Khan (26) and Atkinson in successive overs to tilt the balance.
After opting to bat first, Namibia got off to a worst possible start, losing both their openers in the first two overs for five runs. Mohammad Nabi was given the ball and struck for the first time in the match, following Chapman to the leg side by darting one in flat and full, and a leaping catch was taken by Nawroz Mangal at deep midwicket.
The Afghanistan cricket team recorded three consecutive wins in ICC World Twenty20 Qualifier against Netherlands, United Arab Emirates and Scotland.
However, Craig Williams (43) played a steady 32-ball knock to bring the Namibian innings on track.
That Namibia could get to 135 was due to handy contributions from the lower order comprising Sarel Burger (27 not out) and Nicolaas Scholtz (37).
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With 32 required from the last five overs, Max O’Dowd and Roelof van der Merwe steered Netherlands closer to victory with a 31-run sixth-wicket stand.
