Ireland outplayed Canada in a 2011 Cricket World Cup qualifier here on Monday while fairy-tale contender Afghanistan lost again. Undefeated knocks by Kevin O'Brien (89) and Eoin Morgan (84) steered pre-tournament favorite Ireland to a six-wicket triumph over Canada at Willowmoore Park. Only Geoff Barnett (49) and John Davison (41) impressed with the bat as Canada was all out for 220 and Ireland recovered from 42-4 as O'Brien and Morgan gradually cut loose. Afghanistan, a fifth-division nation who defied heavy odds to win three earlier tournaments, could have done with some of that batting power as only Karim Sadiq (72) impressed in a five-wicket loss to the Netherlands. Ireland, Canada, Scotland, Kenya, the Netherlands and the United Arab Emirates have secured places in the second-phase Super Eights with one series of first-round matches left. The remaining Group A place rests between Namibia, Uganda and Oman while Afghanistan or Bermuda will go forward from Group B where Denmark is out of contention. Teams finishing first to fourth in the Super Eights secure places at the World Cup in Bangladesh, India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka beside the 10 elite nations headed by defending champion Australia. In a high scoring match Amjad Javed hit 164 to lead the UAE to a 112-run win over Denmark. Javed smashed 17 fours and eight sixes from 117 balls in Potchefstroom as the UAE scored 379-6 in 50 overs, the highest total of the tournament. Denmark was dismissed for 267 in 44.4 overs. Fears about the Afghanistan team's batting depth were exposed Saturday by Kenya and 204-9 was never going to be enough against the Dutch, who amassed 208-5 in 46.2 overs. Daan van Bunge led the way with an undefeated 65, including two sixes, as the Netherlands climbed from 80-4 against an Afghan attack that found the going tough apart from two-wicket Mohammad Nabi. In other matches, Namibia beat Oman by 119 runs; Kenya beat Bermuda by seven wickets despite Bermudan David Hemp hitting 102 not out; Scotland beat Uganda by 45 runs.
