Afghanistan, Namibia eye world Twenty20 finals

Afghanistan can book their place in the World Twenty20 on Thursday if they can get past Namibia, the only other undefeated team in the 16-nation qualifying tournament. Afghanistan stunned the world game when they qualified for the 2010 finals and are in pole position to repeat that achievement after winning all seven of their matches in topping Group A. They defeated Papua New Guinea by six wickets, Netherlands by four wickets, Denmark by 89 runs, Nepal by 34 runs, Canada by 41 runs, Hong Kong by nine wickets and Bermuda by 15 runs. Afghanistan's wicketkeeper-batsman Mohammad Shahzad is the second leading run-getter in the tournament with 261 runs; Karim Sadiq is 11 runs behind Shahzad with 255 runs. Namibia entered the tournament as the seventh seeded side and topped Group B, which also included Ireland and Scotland. They boast the leading run-getter Raymond van Schoor (323 runs), while opener Louis van der Westhuizen scored one of the two centuries of the tournament by smashing a 51-ball 106 not out against Scotland. In the league matches, Namibia saw off Ireland by four runs, Scotland by 49 runs, the USA by 17 runs, Uganda by four runs, Kenya by seven wickets, Oman by 36 runs and Italy by 27 runs. "This event has been great and we couldn't have done it without Kabir Khan, our coach, who has helped us get this far in the event," said Afghanistan captain Nawroz Mangal. "We've had some great individual performances that I hope will carry through into Thursday's game. The likes of Mohammad Shahzad, Karim Sadiq and Dawlat Zadran have been key but the whole team has been performing well and they will hopefully continue those performances tomorrow and beyond." The winners of Thursday's game will qualify for the finals in Sri Lanka in September and October with the losers getting a second opportunity on Saturday once the play-offs between Netherlands, Canada, Ireland and Scotland are completed. The two qualifying nations will receive preparation participation fees of $250,000 ahead of the tournament beginning on September 18.