The 2005 ICC Intercontinental Cup was the second edition of the ICC Intercontinental Cup, a cricket competition for (then) 12 nations from Asia, Africa, North America and Europe. All the games were scheduled for three days and were designated first class. The teams played each other team in each of the four groups once. The winners of each group progressed to a semi-final from 23 to 25 October, and then a final from 27 to 29 October, hosted by Namibia. The groups were as follows: Africa: Kenya, Namibia, Uganda (won by Kenya) Asia: Hong Kong, Nepal, United Arab Emirates (won by the United Arab Emirates) Europe: Netherlands, Ireland, Scotland (won by Ireland) N America: Bermuda, Canada, Cayman Islands (won by Bermuda) The United States were going to compete in the North American group, but were expelled from the competition by the ICC because of ongoing political problems within cricket in the US. The tournament was won by Ireland who defeated Kenya in the final. Playing conditions The competition was run by the International Cricket Council to support the development of the longer form of the game in 12 of its associate members. The points system had been determined so as to encourage positive play. For instance, there were 14 points for a win, and the first innings was restricted to 90 overs, which can encourage attacking play as a team approaches the 90 over mark. In the event of a tie (i.e. all wickets down in the last innings with the scores being equal) each side was awarded 7 points. Bonus points for batting were available for every 25 runs scored. There was no limit to how many points can be scored in the first innings, but batting points were restricted to 4 points (300 runs) in the second. 0.5 points were available for every wicket taken. Group stage Africa Group 22–24 April: Kenya (32pts) beat Uganda (15pts) by 168 runs The 2005 competition finally got underway on 22 April the Lugogo Stadium in Kampala. The Kenyan team was just starting to recover from the tremendous upheavals and political difficulties that have racked the Kenyan Cricket Association. This had led to their match against Namibia, which was scheduled to begin on 26 February to be put back to 2 June. With the old-look side restored, Kenya were clear favourites again. On the first day, Kenya scored 321 in an innings