Afghanistan diminish Scotland's chance of World Cup qualification

Afghanistan have won the second ODI against Scotland and therefore taken the series 2-0. More importantly it means they draw level with Scotland on 11 points in 2nd place, behind Ireland who are on 13 points. With now Afghanistan, Netherlands and the UAE breathing down their necks, they missed a huge opportunity to strengthen their position for one of two automatic qualifying spots for the 2015 Cricket World Cup. Afghanistan meanwhile have put themselves back into the frame for a top two finish. For the full points table click on the '2015 ICC CWC Qualifers' tab on the right hand corner of the page.

Scotland did manage a decent total of 259/9 which was on the back of Kyle Coetzer's first ODI century. He hit a run a ball 133 before being run out in the 47th over. No.3 Josh Davey also chipped in with a 64, with his and Coetzer putting on a 134 run stand for the second wicket. Samiullah Shenwari after his impressive batting in the first game this time chimed in with the ball with three wickets.

For Afghanistan every batsman made a score above 20 with skipper Mohammad Nabi top scoring with 51. Opener Mohammad Shahzad excitied the contingent of Afghanistan supporters in the crowd with a blistering knock of 48 off 34 balls with 5 fours and three sixes. The Scottish bowlers proved largely ineffective only picking up five wickets. Afghanistan reached the total with 8 balls to spare.

These two sides now will do battle in a First Class match for the Intercontinental Cup, where both sides are neck and neck in 2nd and 3rd place on the rankings table. There are more WCL Championship matches coming up in the next few weeks with Canada and Kenya to play in Dubai and Ireland and the UAE to play in Sharjah, before Namibia host the Netherlands in April.

Full scorecard for the Afghanistan Scotland match here on Cricinfo: http://www.espncricinfo.com/wcl-championship-2011-13/engine/match/592271.html