ABU DHABI, United Arab Emirates, (CMC) — Opener Irfan Ahmed struck a century and Munir Dar claimed four wickets as unbeaten Hong Kong thrashed Canada by 53 runs in a Group A match of the ICC World Cup Twenty20 qualifiers at the Sheikh Zayed Nursery 1 ground here yesterday.While Hong Kong were recording their third straight victory, Scotland, Uganda and Kenya won at the third attempt to keep their hopes alive.
Pakistan-born Ahmed’s 53-ball 100, which contained eight sixes and four fours, helped Hong Kong post 168-5 before restricting Canada to 115-8, Dar claiming 4-17.
Scotland, who lost their opener to Bermuda, got off the mark with an eight-wicket win over Nepal in Dubai.
Calum MacLeod spearheaded Scotland’s reply after Nepal posted 137-7, hitting five fours and three sixes in his unbeaten 82 from 64 balls to see his side home with four balls remaining.
Earlier, Nepal were pegged back by Safyaan Sharif (3-19) and Gordon Goudie (3-29).
Uganda registered their first win by beating Italy by one wicket with one ball left in Abu Dhabi.
Gareth Berg led Italy to 148-4 with 62 from 34 balls before Uganda replied with 151-9.
Veteran Steve Tikolo’s unbeaten 48 helped Kenya cruise to an eight-wicket victory over Denmark with 10.5 overs remaining in Dubai.
Opening bowlers Nehemiah Odhiambo (3-15) and Ragheb Aga (2-8) restricted the Danes to a mediocre 84-8 before 42-year-old opener Tikolo cut loose.
The top three teams in each group will advance to next year’s World Cup proper in Bangladesh.

Summarised scores:

Group A
Hong Kong (168-5) beat Canada (115-8) by 53 runs
Uganda (151-9) beat Italy (148-4) by one wicket

Group B
Scotland (138-2) beat Nepal (137-7) by eight wickets
Kenya (85-2) beat Denmark (84-8) by eight wickets