ICC World Cup qualifier fixture schedule announced

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Allan Foti, Sports Correspondent
THE Chevrons kick-off their 2019 World Cup qualifying campaign at Queens Sports Club in Bulawayo against the second runner-up in the ICC World Cricket League Division Two in what will also be the tournament opener on March 4, 2018.

Zimbabwe was drawn in Group B alongside the group’s top seed Afghanistan, Scotland, Hong Kong and the ICC World Cricket League Division 2 runners-up.

Group A comprises West Indies, Ireland, Netherlands, Papua New Guinea and the winner of the ICC World Cricket League Division 2. Favourites, West Indies begin their Group A campaign on March 6 against the winner of the ICC World Cricket League Division 2.

Only two teams from the 10 sides participating in the qualifiers will go through to the Cricket World Cup that will be co-hosted by England and Wales.

The four top seeds in the qualifiers, the hosts Zimbabwe, Afghanistan, Ireland and the West Indies all failed to qualify outright after finishing outside the top eight on the MRF Tyres ICC ODI Team Rankings by the September 2017 cut-off date. They are joined by Hong Kong, the Netherlands, Scotland and Papua New Guinea, who finished in the top four of the ICC World Cricket League Championship.

Two more will join them from among Canada, Kenya, Namibia, Nepal, Oman and the United Arab Emirates, who will compete in the ICC World Cricket League Division Two tournament to be played from February 8 in Namibia.

The ICC yesterday issued a statement announcing the full fixture for the qualifiers, including the warm-up matches.

According to the statement, Queens Sports Club and Bulawayo Athletic Club in Bulawayo, Harare Sports Club and Old Hararians Sports Club in Harare and Kwekwe Sports Club will share 34 matches between them from March 4-25, with Harare Sports Club staging the final.

“We are tremendously excited to be hosting the ICC Cricket World Cup Qualifier 2018 event, which will bring some of the world’s most talented and gifted cricketers to our beautiful country. As the very proud hosts, we are very passionate about what we do on and off the field and we are leaving no stone unturned to ensure we deliver an extraordinarily memorable tournament,” said Zimbabwe Cricket chairman Tavengwa Mukuhlani in the                    statement.

“While the ultimate goal for the teams involved will be to secure one of the two remaining berths at the 2019 ICC Cricket World Cup in England and Wales; tournaments such as the qualifier event always provide the platform for raw talent and unheralded players to emerge and this can only put the game of cricket in good stead,” he said.

ICC chief executive David Richardson also weighed in: “This will undoubtedly be a competitive and hard fought tournament with two tickets for the ICC Cricket World Cup up for grabs as well as ODI status. Seeing four Full Member sides up against our best Associate Member teams which have progressed through qualification will make for some exciting cricket.

“This is the conclusion of a four-year qualification process that began with regional events and progressed through to the global World Cricket League. There is a huge amount at stake for all 10 teams battling it out for the remaining two spots at the ICC Cricket World Cup.”

Ten warm-up matches will be played on February 27 and March 1 and each team will play two. The Chevrons face Ireland on February 27 at Queens and Papua New Guinea on March 1 at BAC. West Indies will play Afghanistan on February 27 at Harare Sports Club and the runners-up from the WCL Division 2 tournament on February 1 at Harare Sports Club.

Groups
Group A: Windies (A1); Ireland (A2); Netherlands (A3); Papua New Guinea (A4); ICC World Cricket League Division 2 (WCL Div.2) winner (A5)

Group B: Afghanistan (B1); Zimbabwe (B2); Scotland (B3); Hong Kong (B4); ICC World Cricket League Division 2 (WCL Div.2) runners-up (B5)

Fixtures (warm-up matches)

Tuesday, 27 February – Afghanistan v Windies, Harare Sports Club (HSC); Hong Kong v Netherlands, Old Hararians (OH); WCL Div.2 (winner) v WCL Div.2 (runners-up), Kwekwe (KK); Zimbabwe v Ireland, Queen’s Sports Club (QSC); Scotland v PNG, Bulawayo Athletic Club (BAC)

Thursday, 1 March – WCL Div.2 (winners) v Windies, Harare Sports Club (HSC); Afghanistan v Netherlands, Old Hararians (OH); Hong Kong v WCL Div.2 (runners-up), Kwekwe (KK); Scotland v Ireland, Queen’s Sports Club (QSC); Zimbabwe v PNG, Bulawayo Athletic Club (BAC)

Tournament Proper (first round)

Sunday, 4 March – PNG v WCL Div.2 winner (HSC); Ireland v Netherlands (OH); Zimbabwe v WCL Div.2 (runners-up), Queens Sports Club (QSC); Afghanistan v Scotland (BAC)

Tuesday, 6 March – PNG v Ireland (HSC); Windies v WCL Div.2 Winner (OH); Zimbabwe v Afghanistan (QSC); Scotland v Hong Kong (BAC)

Thursday, 8 March – Netherlands v WCL Div.2 Winner (HSC); Windies v PNG (OH); Scotland v WCL Div.2 runners-up (QSC); Afghanistan v Hong Kong (BAC)

Saturday, 10 March – Windies v Ireland (HSC); PNG v Netherlands (OH); Zimbabwe v Hong Kong (QSC); Afghanistan v WCL Div.2 runners-up (BAC)
Monday, 12 March – Windies v Netherlands (HSC); Ireland v WCL Div.2 winners (OH); Hong Kong v WCL Div.2 runners-up (QSC); Zimbabwe v Scotland (BAC)

Super Sixes
Thursday, 15 March – A1 v B1 (HSC); A3 v B3 (QSC); A5 v B4 play-off (OH); A4 v B5 play-off (KK)

Friday, 16 March – A2 v B2 (HSC)

Saturday, 17 March – 9th/10th position play-off (OH); 7th/8th position play-off (KK)

Sunday, 18 March – A2 v B3 (HSC)

Monday, 19 March – A1 v B2 (HSC)

Tuesday, 20 March – A3 v B1 (HSC)

Thursday, 22 March – A1 v B3 (HSC); A3 v B2 (OH)

Friday, 23 March – A2 v B1 (HSC)

Sunday, 25 March – Final (HSC)

@AllanFoti

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