Bermuda hammered by Afghanistan

Bermuda were soundly beaten by Afghanistan in their latest match at the ICC World Twenty20 Qualifiers in the UAE today.

Captain Janeiro Tucker’s side never looked like getting enough runs and were eventually all out for 101 before Mohammad Shahzad scored 60 off 36 balls to wrap up an eight-wicket win for Afghanistan with 61 balls remaining.

Lionel Cann (28) was the only Bermudian player to make any real impact on the scorecard.

After impressive wins over Scotland and Denmark, coach Arnold Manders has now watched his side come unstuck against the Netherlands and Afghanistan, admittedly two of the stronger teams in Group B.

Nevertheless, Bermuda’s fate in the competition is in the balance and a win against Kenya tomorrow (Thursday) at the ICC Academy in Dubai looks paramount.

Bermuda are sixth in the table on the same number of points as Kenya (fourth) and Papua New Guinea  (fifth) but with an inferior net run rate. *

The island’s remaining fixtures after tomorrow’s game are against Nepal on Saturday and Papua New Guinea on Sunday.

* The top three teams from Groups A and B compete in the first place playoffs to determine the teams finishing in the top four qualifying positions. The losing two teams from this are relegated to another playoff where they compete with fourth/fifth placed teams in Group A and B for the remaining two World Cup spots. The qualifiers in total feature 72 games and 16 teams.