Day 3 of the ICC World Cup Qualifiers went well for the UAE but not so much for Afghanistan, who lost their first match of the tournament.

Afghanistan were downed by Kenya, who must surely be one of the favorites.

Though after losing to Netherlands I did not expect Kenya to give the Afghans such a heavy defeat.

And who else but the never age-ing veteran of so many world cups, Kennedy Otieno at the forefront of the Kenyan Victory with an unbeaten century.

UAE, on the other hand, faced a tense chase against the Netherlands finally getting there in the final over with 2 wickets to spare.

Saqib Ali finally showed what he's all about!

UAE getting to a win without a single run from Khurram Khan is a surprise, albeit a good one!

Victory without the skipper's contribution has been rare for the UAE and its a positive sign that shows that they can do it.

These results make Group B wide open with UAE, Afghanistan, Kenya, and the Netherlands all on 2 wins from 3 matches.

UAE beat Netherlands who beat Kenya who beat both UAE and Afghanistan.

This sounds more interesting then what the test nations get up to.

Group A looks the dull one though with Ireland and Canada dominating the proceedings and Namibia and Oman not being able to win anything.

Considering that, aren't the groups slightly skewed?

It's like having Australia, South Africa, India, Sri Lanka in one Group and Pakistan, New Zealand, England, and West Indies in the other!

I know they're based on some rankings but surely something's wrong.

In other news, Bermuda won their first match and our favorite Dwayne Leverock was once again on top with the ball: 9-0-23-0.

Amazing for a man who went for almost a 100 in a match in the 2007 World Cup.

Canada became the first team to go beyond 300 in the qualifiers and who else but John Davison to get them there.

Davison, who holds the record for the fastest century in a World Cup match, smashed 131 off 99 deliveries with 10 fours and 6 sixes against Namibia.

He had failed to get going in the first 2 matches, but today, he made it his day!

Jrod, you must be pleased.

I am too as long as UAE and Afghanistan stay in the race!

The T20 Quadrangular being played in Canada enters its last day today where Pakistan takes on Sri Lanka in the final and Canada and Zimbabwe go head to head in a 3rd place play off.

Pakistan taking on Sri Lanka in the final was expected, but I doubt anyone expected Pakistan to get there unbeaten.

I also doubt anyone expected the Canadian side to put up a fight against all 3 international teams.

Canada pushed Zimbabwe to the last ball and into a bowl out, and they gave Sri Lanka a mighty scare last night. Plus they had Pakistan in serious trouble on the opening day of the tournament, but thats not saying much - even the Irish get Pakistan in trouble every now and then.

We have seen in the past that the 20-20 format provides the lesser teams more of a chance against the stronger sides. Someone pointed out that its too less a time for the flaws to show.

Very true I think.

So the question then is that should the ICC promote 20-20 among the associate nations? Should it be used to attract countries such as the USA and China?

It will definitely be more appealing to the viewers there, plus if these lesser teams feel that they can actually compete against the likes of Australia, India, and Pakistan then they would be more serious about their cricket.

So is 20-20 the tool to take cricket to untapped parts of the world?

The flip side of this though is that cricket runs the risk of being known as only 20-20 around the world.

If the associate nations are bombarded with 20-20 tournaments left, right, and centre, then how would their teams be developed for the ODI game and test cricket?

But then, do they even want to play test cricket?

Or does the ICC really want to take test cricket to the rest of the world?

If its all about the promotion of the game and generating dollars then 20-20 is your tool and the world is waiting for someone to involve them in it.