The ICC has confirmed the groups and schedule for the Men’s Cricket World Cup Qualifier, held in Zimbabwe from June 18.
A ten-team tournament with two groups of five, the top three on each side of the draw progress to a Super Six phase. From there, teams play opponents progressing from the other group, with points accumulated against other Super Six teams from their original group carrying forward. The top two teams will claim the final spots for the ten-team tournament in India, and play a Qualifier final for bragging rights.
Group A is arguably the harder of the two groups on paper, with in-form Nepal the fourth seeded team in the five, drawn with the West Indies, Netherlands, USA and the hosts.
Sri Lanka are roaring favourites in Group B, and meet Ireland, a team they did not face in the recently concluded Cricket World Cup Super League. Scotland and Oman enter Group B by virtue of their League 2 top-three finish, with UAE reaching the tournament via the Cricket World Cup Qualifier Play-off in Namibia earlier in the year.
The West Indies and Scotland are the only teams to publicly announce their squads, with Richie Berrington’s side notably missing several players due to County Cricket commitments, namely Michael Jones, Josh Davey and Brad Wheal. The West Indies have notably left out Shimron Hetmyer in their squad, while it’s understood that the Netherlands will also miss a number of players due to UK domestic cricket. Durham’s Bas de Leede will be available.
Matches at the Harare Sports Club and the Queens Sports Club throughout the tournament will be televised, with the matches at Takashinga Cricket Club and Bulawayo Athletic Club covered via ICC.tv streams.
Contrary to early media reports, DRS will be in place for the tournament, though only from the Super Six phase and beyond.
Groups for the Cricket World Cup Qualifier
Group A: West Indies, Zimbabwe, Netherlands, Nepal, USA
Group B: Sri Lanka, Ireland, Scotland, Oman, UAE
Fixtures
Sunday, 18 June
Zimbabwe v Nepal, Harare Sports Club
West Indies v USA, Takashinga Cricket Club
Monday, 19 June
Sri Lanka v UAE, Queen’s Sports Club
Ireland v Oman, Bulawayo Athletic Club
Tuesday, 20 June
Zimbabwe v Netherlands, Harare Sports Club
Nepal v USA, Takashinga Cricket Club
Wednesday, 21 June
Ireland v Scotland, Queen’s Sports Club
Oman v UAE, Bulawayo Athletic Club
Thursday, 22 June
West Indies v Nepal, Harare Sports Club
Netherlands v USA, Takashinga Cricket Club
Friday, 23 June
Sri Lanka v Oman, Queen’s Sports Club
Scotland v UAE, Bulawayo Athletic Club
Saturday, 24 June
Zimbabwe v West Indies, Harare Sports Club
Netherlands v Nepal, Takashinga Cricket Club
Sunday, 25 June
Sri Lanka v Ireland, Queen’s Sports Club
Scotland v Oman, Bulawayo Athletic Club
Monday, 26 June
Zimbabwe v USA, Harare Sports Club
West Indies v Netherlands, Takashinga Cricket Club
Tuesday, 27 June
Sri Lanka v Scotland, Queen’s Sports Club
Ireland v UAE, Bulawayo Athletic Club
Thursday, 29 June
Super 6: A2 v B2, Queen’s Sports Club
Friday, 30 June
Super 6: A3 v B1, Queen’s Sports Club
Playoff: A5 v B4, Takashinga Cricket Club
Saturday, 1 July
Super 6: A1 v B3, Harare Sports Club
Sunday, 2 July
Super 6: A2 v B1, Queen’s Sports Club
Playoff: A4 v B5, Takashinga Cricket Club
Monday, 3 July
Super 6: A3 v B2, Harare Sports Club
Tuesday, 4 July
Super 6: A2 v B3, Queen’s Sports Club
Playoff: 7th v 8 th Takashinga Cricket Club
Wednesday, 5 July
Super Six: A1 v B2, Harare Sports Club
Thursday, 6 July
Super Six: A3 v B3, Queen’s Sports Club
Playoff: 9th v 10 th Takashinga Cricket Club
Friday, 07 July
Super Six: A1 v B1, Harare Sports Club
Sunday, 09 July
Final, Harare Sports Club
Warm-up fixtures
Tuesday, 13 June
West Indies v Scotland, Harare Sports Club
Zimbabwe v Oman, Takashinga Cricket Club
Nepal v UAE, Old Hararians Cricket Club
Sri Lanka v Netherlands, Queen’s Sports Club
Ireland v USA, Bulawayo Athletic Club
Thursday, 15 June
Nepal v Oman, Harare Sports Club
West Indies v UAE, Takashinga Cricket Club
Zimbabwe v Scotland, Old Hararians Cricket Club
Ireland v Netherlands, Queen’s Sports Club
Sri Lanka v USA, Bulawayo Athletic Club
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