Afghanistan will qualify for the 2019 World Cup if they beat Ireland on Friday following a surprise defeat of Zimbabwe by UAE in Harare on Thursday.

After three losses in their first three games of the Cricket World Cup Qualifier, Afghanistan stood on the cusp of being eliminated from a tournament they had been favorites to progress from at the earliest-possible opportunity. 

They needed to win all their remaining games, and for plenty of other results to go their way, in order to stand a chance of qualifying for the Cricket World Cup.

Remarkably, they enter their final game against Ireland with their fate in their hands – a win will see seal their place in next year’s Cricket World Cup. 

Afghanistan won their first warm up game against West Indies by 29 runs (DLS) but they struggled with the bat, slipping to 71/8 before a punchy ninth-wicket stand of 91 helped them to 163/9, which Dawlat Zadran’s 4/26 helped them defend. 

They were then dismissed for 216 by the Netherlands in their second warm up, with their batting struggles continuing throughout the tournament.

For most of Afghanistan’s second game, against Zimbabwe, their opening loss seemed to be behind them as they dismissed their opponents for 196 and progressed untroubled to 156/3. Then they collapsed, losing six wickets for 21 runs.