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Ireland qualify for 2011 World Cup

April 16, 2009 10:25 IST

Ireland beat Netherlands by six wickets in Pretoria on Wednesday to clinch a second consecutive appearance at the Cricket World Cup.

The Dutch were all out for 222 at LC de Villiers Oval and captain William Porterfield made 78 and Eoin Morgan 76 as the Irish reached 226-4 in 44.3 overs.

Ireland finished the first round of the final qualifying tournament with a 100 percent record from five matches and after a shock loss to Afghanistan, bounced back to defeat United Arab Emirates and the Netherlands.

Victory for the Irish moved them to 10 points on the Super 8 standings and although they could be overtaken by Canada after the final round Friday are certain to fill one of four World Cup places up for grabs in South Africa.

Opener Alexei Kervezee was the only Dutch batsman to trouble the Irish attack, scoring 77 off 112 balls during a knock spiced with two sixes and six fours.

Alex Cusack took three Dutch wickets for 26 runs in six overs and Boyd Rankin also claimed three while conceding 48 runs in 10 overs. Peter Connell (two), Regan West and Trent Johnston were the other wicket takers. 

Opener Porterfield scored his runs off 105 balls before being run out by Tom de Grooth and Morgan sped to his total off 62 balls, including four sixes and five fours. 

With the teams tied on 222, Kevin O'Brien struck the winning four and sealed a ticket to the world showpiece which will be staged in Bangladesh, India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka. 

UAE pulled off a shock five-wicket victory over Canada and Namibia hammered Kenya by 201 runs in an all-Africa clash as the race for the other World Cup berths intensified.

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