The West Indies continued their cruise to the ICC World Cup in 2019 when they beat Ireland by 52 runs.
The Caribbean islanders were cast into the cauldron of the qualifying tournament when they fell to ninth position on the rankings in 2017. But they have shown their superiority by winning their three matches so far.
But they did not make it easy for themselves, needing a stand of 86 between Jason Holder and Rovman Powell, lifting them from 83-5 to 169-6, when Holder was dismissed on 54. He was the fourth wicket for the 36-year-old Tim Murtagh, who opened his account by dismissing Chris Gayle for 14.
Powell went on to score his first ODI century, hitting seven fours and seven sixes on his way to 101 and helping the West Indies to 257-8.
The Irish were four down for 96 at the halfway mark, but they were still in with a chance at 155-4 in the 32nd over. But then Kemar Roach dismissed Ed Joyce (63) and Kevin O’Brien (38) within four balls to effectively end the charge.
Zimbabwe similarly eased through to a 3-3 ratio by beating Hong Kong by 89 runs.
Hamilton Masakadza lead the way with a breezy 84 off 110 balls after Cephus Zhuwao (45) and Solomon Mire (20) had put on 53 for the first wicket in 29 balls. Brendan Taylor provided support with 46 as Zimbabwe piled up 263-9.
The Chinese owed their response to Anshuman Rath, who scored 85 of his team’s 174 in reply.
The Netherlands kept their hopes of making the Super Sixes alive by beating Papua New Guinea by 57 runs, their first win in three matches.
It was, though, another weak batting display and they needed a fifty from No 7 batsman Sikander Zulfiqar to reach a defendable total. Ryan ten Doeschate went for 5 and Roloef van der Merwe for 38.
Van der Merwe, who played 13 ODIs for South Africa, picked up 4-46 as Papua New Guinea were bowled out for 159 in 42 overs.
Afghanistan reversed a run of three losses by beating Nepal by six wickets, but it may be too little too late for them.
West Indies vs Ireland Scorecard
Zimbabwe vs Hong Kong scorecard
