The United Arab Emirates broke around 20 million hearts and made nearly 50 million friends when they eliminated Zimbabwe from the ICC Cricket World Cup 2019 race to give Afghanistan and Ireland a lifeline by turning their last Super Six match into a shootout for the last remaining spot in the 2019 ICC World Cup. (SCORECARD)The UAE, who were out of World Cup contention last week after losing to Scotland, did a huge favour to Afghanistan and Ireland, when against all odds and expectations, they defeated Zimbabwe by three runs in the penultimate match of the ICC Cricket World Cup Qualifier 2018 in front of a packed to capacity Harare Sports Stadium. Thursday’s result means the winner of Friday’s match will become the second qualifiers after the Windies to qualify for the ICC Cricket World Cup 2019 and will also feature in Sunday’s final. The UAE also got a stroke of luck when rain came down in force with their score at 235 for seven in 47.5 overs. Earlier, Scotland had beaten Afghanistan, while Hong Kong also beat Afghanistan.

Source: Hindustan Times March 22, 2018 17:03 UTC