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All you need to know about the World Cup Qualifier
ODI World Cup Qualifier… What’s that?
As the packaging suggests, this is a qualifying event where ten teams will fight it out for the last two available spots at the 2023 ODI World Cup in India in October-November. The Qualifier is the finishing point of a four-year process that began with 32 teams in contention for the World Cup, where only ten will finally take part.
Interesting. So will we see teams such as India and Australia in the Qualifier?
Nope, they are already in the main draw. India, who are the hosts and the other teams that finished in the top eight of the 13-team ODI Super League have automatically qualified for the showpiece event. The bottom five teams from the Super League and five others will feature in the Qualifier.
Going way too fast, mate… now what’s the ODI Super League?
The ODI Super League was introduced by the ICC in 2020 to help decide the teams that would feature in the World Cup. It ran from July 30, 2020, to May 14, 2023. The 13 teams included the 12 Full Members and Netherlands, who were winners of the preceding World Cricket League Championship.
At the end of the Super League, India, New Zealand, England, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Australia, Afghanistan and South Africa sealed their World Cup spots. The bottom five teams – West Indies, Sri Lanka, Ireland, Zimbabwe and Netherlands, along with five Associate nations – will get another crack at making the main event through the Qualifier. Two of these ten sides will eventually make the journey to India.Having said that, the Super League will be scrapped after the 2023 World Cup, with the ICC going back to relying on rankings as the basis for qualification to the men’s 50-over World Cup.
Gotcha. Who are these five Associate teams?
Oman, Scotland, UAE, Nepal and USA.
And how did they make it to the final World Cup Qualifier?
Scotland, Oman and Nepal were the top three teams in the World Cup League 2, a seven-team tournament of 140 matches that was played from August 2019 to March 2023. Scotland and Oman finished first and second, and Nepal sealed third place in exhilarating manner by winning 11 of their last 12 matches to pip Namibia by a solitary point.
UAE and USA clinched the final two qualifying spots after finishing as the top two teams at the World Cup Qualifier play-offs in March-April this year.
Awesome. So how does the upcoming Qualifier work?
All matches will have ODI status, and will come thick and fast. The ten teams have been split into two groups of five. Group A includes Nepal, Netherlands, USA, West Indies and Zimbabwe, while Group B consists of Ireland, Oman, Scotland, Sri Lanka and UAE. Each side will play four group matches, facing the others in their group once in a round-robin format. The winner of each game will be awarded two points, while ties and no-results will fetch one point each.
After the 20 group-stage matches are done, the top three sides from each group will progress to the Super Six, carrying over the points they acrue against the other two teams that reach this stage. Each team in the Super Six will face the three qualifying teams from the opposite first-round group. Thereafter, the top two teams on the Super Six table will qualify for the 2023 World Cup.
Wait, so no final?
There will be a match between the top-two Super Six sides, with the winner taking home a shiny trophy. But the final will be a win-win game for both sides, since they’ve both already booked their World Cup berths.
Sweet. Oh, before I forget: where’s this happening and when?
In Zimbabwe, as was the case last time around in 2018. Four venues, two each in Harare and Bulawayo, will host the matches.
The tournament commences on June 18, with the group-stage games finishing on June 27. The Super Six will run from June 29 to July 7, while the final will take place on July 9 at Harare Sports Club. Playoffs to decide seventh to tenth places will take place from June 30 to July 6. Here’s the full list of fixtures, and all the squads.
Anything new this time around?
The DRS. After first announcing the presence of third umpires to monitor only run-outs, the ICC confirmed that DRS will be in use from the Super Six stage for the first time in a World Cup Qualifier.
Surely West Indies and Sri Lanka go in as favourites?
Going by the rankings, you would say so. Both teams narrowly missed out on automatic qualification for the World Cup, and will fancy their chances. West Indies have shown excellent recent form in ODIs: coming into the Qualifier, they swept UAE 3-0 in an ODI series in Sharjah, and had earlier drawn 1-1 against South Africa. Sri Lanka, meanwhile, are coming off a 2-1 ODI series win over Afghanistan.However, don’t rule out Zimbabwe, who will be playing in their home conditions, and will have the backing of the local crowd.
And the underdogs… ?
Ireland have reasonable recent game time under their belt, and plenty of in-form players. They could prove to be a handful. Talking of underdogs, don’t forget Nepal, who have never featured in an ODI World Cup, but have a team for the conditions, are on a roll, and can cause a few upsets.
The last World Cup Qualifier…what happened there?
Heartbreak for Zimbabwe and Scotland, and World Cup qualification for Afghanistan and West Indies. Afghanistan’s qualification was nothing short of miraculous. They entered the Super Six staring down the barrel, but successive wins and favourable results from other games ensured they booked a place at the 2019 World Cup. A win over West Indies in the final was the cherry on top of a comeback for the ages. (cricinfo)
The first truly heavyweight clash of this expanded T20 World Cup format comes freighted with both history and subplots. A rematch of the 2010 World T20 final at Kensington Oval, the match pits Jos Buttler’s defending champions – who are aiming to become the first team to retain the trophy – against the Australian winning machine, victors at the 2021 edition and current world title-holders in Test and ODI cricket. And that’s before you throw in the Ashes for afters.
Already there is added pressure on England, after the rain in Bridgetown led to a share of the points in their opener against Scotland (and that having conceded 90 runs from 10 overs without taking a wicket in a tepid bowling display). Lose to their oldest rivals and it will leave their Super 8 prospects open to being waylaid by the perils of net run-rate calculations, or worse.
The Scotland match was the third abandonment in five suffered by England, after a rain-affected home series against Pakistan, which has clearly hampered their readiness for this campaign after almost six months without playing T20 together. It does not take much for a side to click in this format – and England looked in decent shape when they did get on the field against Pakistan – but Buttler will be anxious for things to go their way on Saturday, if only to avoid further questions referencing the team’s disastrous ODI World Cup defence last year.
Australia, under the laidback leadership of Mitchell Marsh would love nothing more than to add to the English sense of jeopardy – having helped bundle them out of the tournament in India on the way to taking the crown. Their head to head record is less impressive in T20 however, with England having won six of the last seven completed encounters, as well as that 2010 final.
Despite a wobble with the bat, Australia avoided mishap against Oman earlier in the week, the experience of David Warner and Marcus Stoinis shining through in difficult batting conditions. Surfaces in the Caribbean – not to mention those games staged in the USA – have already had teams scratching their heads; rather than the “slug-fest” England had prepared for, following a high-scoring tour of the Caribbean in December, it looks as if boxing smart may be the way to go.
Speaking of Warner, this could be the last time he faces up against England in national colours – and another match-winning contribution would likely reduce the chances of them meeting again in the knockouts. On the other side of the card is Jofra Archer, fresh from an emotional maiden outing at Kensington Oval and ready to take on Australia for the first time in any format since 2020. Can Mark Wood fire up England’s campaign, as he did during last summer’s Ashes? Will Pat Cummins be back to harass the old enemy once again? Seconds out, it’s almost time to rumble.
Cummins is set to return after being rested for the Oman game, which saw Mitchell Starc leave the field with cramp. Starc is understood to be fine and could keep his place – which would likely see Nathan Ellis miss out. Marsh is still not fit to bowl, with Australia likely to continue with the allrounder combination of Stoinis and Maxwell to give them cover.
Australia (probable XI): David Warner, Travis Head, Mitchell Marsh (capt), Glenn Maxwell, Marcus Stoinis, Josh Inglis (wk), Tim David, Pat Cummins, Nathan Ellis/Mitchell Starc, Adam Zampa, Josh Hazlewood
The one change England may consider is Reece Topley coming in for Wood, with the expectation that there will be some rotation among the seamers through the course of the tournament.
England (probable XI): Phil Salt, Jos Buttler (capt & wk), Will Jacks, Jonny Bairstow, Harry Brook, Liam Livingstone, Moeen Ali, Chris Jordan, Jofra Archer, Adil Rashid, Reece Topley/Mark Wood
[Cricinfo]
Once is coincidence, twice is a clue, and three times is proof.
To paraphrase Agatha Christie, that is the narrative around South Africa’s meeting with Netherlands at this T20 World Cup.
The Dutch beat South Africa at the 2022 tournament and ended their semi-final hopes in a match where South Africa appeared to be sleep walking, and then beat them again at the 2023 ODI World Cup, where they exposed South Africa’s vulnerability in the chase. If they to do the treble, not only will Netherlands take the lead in Group D, but they will offer conclusive evidence of the threat they pose to Full Members, especially South Africa.
Of course, it will take some doing after South Africa’s opening performance against Sri Lanka, where they reduced their opposition to their lowest T20I total and chased it down in fairly straightforward fashion thanks to the most stable middle-order of their white-ball era. In Aiden Markram, Tristan Stubbs, Heinrich Klaasen and David Miller, South Africa have bankers and big-hitters and, for this match, they also have the advantage of experience. They’ve already played at Eisenhower Park, and have first-hand knowledge that run-scoring doesn’t come easily;Klassen said they are prepared to use their “cricket brains” and play “smarter cricket”.
But the conditions could be good news for Netherlands, who are not naturally a line-up of big hitters and build their innings on a foundation of turning ones into twos. In other words, they tend to take a slightly more conservative approach to batting, which may work well here, but they’ll be wary of the uneven bounce of the surface and will have to come up with plans to counterattack especially against South Africa’s seamers. Their own bowlers were exemplary in Dallas and will look to build on that performance against a line-up that will likely be more proactive than Nepal’s, but who they have managed to keep quiet not once, but twice in the past. Third time’s the charm, they say.
Anrich Nortje’s stunning return to form against Sri Lanka means South Africa may not have to tinker with the bowling combination, and Gerald Coetzee and Tabraiz Shamsi may have to wait their turns to get a game. The batting line-up should be unchanged, with no space for Ryan Rickelton yet.
South Africa: Quinton de Kock (wk), Reeza Hendricks, Aiden Markam, Tristan Stubbs, Heinrich Klaasen (wk), David Miller, Marco Jansen, Keshav Maharaj, Kagiso Rabada, Ottneil Baartman, Anrich Nortje
Conditions in New York may tempt Netherlands to include an extra seamer and they have Kyle Klein in their squad. But it could come at the expense of a shortened batting line-up and they may not want to risk that.
Netherlands: Michael Levitt, Max O’Dowd, Vikramjit Singh, Sybrand Engelbrecht, Scott Edwards (capt, wk), Bas de Leede, Teja Nidamanuru, Logan van Beek, Tim Pringle, Paul van Meekeren, Vivian Kingma
[Cricinfo]
Nuwan Thushara’s last over brought Sri Lanka screaming back into the match,as he first bowled Rishad Hossain, and then nailed Taskin Ahmed in front of the stumps with a pinpoint swinging yorker. This left Bangladesh eight wickets down, with 12 runs still to get.
However, the experienced Mahmudullah was at the crease for Bangladesh, and despite some further nervy moments, pushed Bangladesh across the line off the last ball of the 19th over.
But this was a match chiefly decided by Bangladesh’s own outstanding bowling. Mustafizur Rahman was the best among them, using shorter lengths and his cutters efficiently, to claim figures of 3 for 17. Rishad Hossain’s three-for through the middle overs also kept Sri Lanka quiet.
Mustafizur was instrumental in Sri Lanka’s downward spiral through the middle overs, which culminated in a crash-and-burn end. Ultimately, their inability to find boundaries, or even rotate strike against good Bangladesh bowling resulted in their downfall. A score of 125 for 9 always seemed poor on a decent pitch, even if their bowlers made a match of it in the end.
Brief scores:
Bangladesh 125 for 8 in 19 overs (Towhid Hridoy 40, Litton Das 36; Dhanajaya de Silva 1-11, Nuwan Thushara 4-18, Wanidu Hasaranga 2-32, Matheesha Pathirana 1-27) beat Sri Lanka124 for 9 in 20 overs (Pathum Nissanka 47, Dhananjaya de Silva 21; Tanzim Hasan Sakib 1-24, Taskin Ahmed 2-25, Mustafizur Rahman 3-17, Rishad Hossain 3-22) by two wickets
[Cricinfo]
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