First and foremost, here are the standings at the end of Day 9 in Group A:
| Team | Played | Wins | Loss | Points | NRR |
| PNG | 5 | 4 | 1 | 8 | 2.099 |
| Netherlands | 5 | 4 | 1 | 8 | 1.891 |
| Namibia | 6 | 4 | 2 | 8 | 1.08 |
| Scotland | 5 | 3 | 2 | 6 | 0.55 |
| Kenya | 5 | 2 | 3 | 4 | -0.931 |
| Singapore | 6 | 2 | 3 | 4 | -0.765 |
| Bermuda | 6 | 0 | 6 | 0 | -2.839 |
At this stage of the tournament:
Namibia have played their six group matches, securing their guaranteed qualification with 8 points, the same as Papa New Guinea and Netherlands who both have one game left to play but remain miles ahead on NRR.
Singapore too have completed their group stage, and despite a strong start to the competition, beating most people’s favorites Scotland and besting Bermuda, have finished sixth. Only a significant loss for Kenya, lowering their pre-existing NRR, could mean they finish fifth with no material change to their fate registered.
Bermuda despite impressing in the America’s Qualifiers by beating all sides save for Canada, have not managed to register a win, having completed their group stage and taking seventh place.
The remaining 4 sides will face off tomorrow. PNG and Netherlands’ respective results will decide decide who will finish top of the table, automatically qualifying for the T20 World Cup in Australia next year, while Scotland and Kenya’s results will determine the final qualifier and the positions.
Possible Permutations:
PNG v Kenya:
PNG are looking to secure a win and go through to automatic qualification with 10 points undisturbed, save for in the event that the Netherlands beat Scotland by a decent enough margin to best PNG’s NRR. Kenya are fighting for qualification – a loss means they will have come close with no cigar, and a win still requires them to better Scotland’s existing NRR. If Scotland beat the Netherlands, Kenya will be out regardless of their own result.
Netherlands v Scotland:
Netherlands are fighting to finish top of the table. To do that, they need a win that betters their NRR at the minimum – if PNG lose to Kenya, Netherlands go through automatically just by besting their NRR. Scotland meanwhile are looking for a win to finish on 8 points like Namibia and be guaranteed qualification. If Scotland lose, they remain on 6 points, and Kenya may qualify over them if Kenya beats PNG.
If any of the above looks confusing – save yourself the trouble of getting a calculator out and watching both the televised matches, where all four remaining sides have everything left to fight for, including in the case of PNG and the Netherlands, booking their tickets for Australia.
Keep up with all the action in UAE here in our landing page!
Kenya v Papa New Guinea (10h00) at Dubai (televised)
Scotland v Netherlands (14h10) at Dubai (televised)
