Photo Credit: Cricket Scotland / Ian Jacobs
Scotland will face great rivals Ireland and 1996 World Cup winners Sri Lanka in Group B of the ICC Men’s World Cup Qualifier in Zimbabwe in June.
The ICC today confirmed the fixture schedule for the tournament, which begins on June 18 and runs until July 9. Ten teams will compete for the final two remaining places at the 2023 ICC Men’s World Cup in India in October.
Scotland will also face Oman and UAE in the group stage, with all Group B fixtures being played in Bulawayo. Group A is based in Harare, and consists of Nepal, Netherlands, USA, West Indies, and tournament hosts Zimbabwe.
The Scots will begin their campaign against Ireland on Wednesday, June 21, before facing UAE on Friday, June 23. The Scots then take on Oman on Sunday, June 25, and conclude their Group B campaign on Tuesday, June 27 in a crunch meeting with Sri Lanka.
The top three teams in each group progressing to the Super Six stage. Those teams will each play three Super Six matches against the sides they did not meet in the initial group stage. All points won in the group stage will be carried over to the Super Six, apart from those gained against the bottom two in each group. The tournament finalists will both progress to the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup 2023.
The ICC have confirmed that for the first time at this event, DRS will be used for all matches from the Super Six onwards.
The Qualifier is the culmination of four years of competition and brings together the bottom five teams from the ICC Men’s CWC Super League, three automatic qualifiers from ICC Men’s CWC League 2 – including winners Scotland – and two teams who gained entry from the ICC Men’s CWC Qualifier Play-off.
Scotland and Ireland will renew a rivalry that goes back decades, but the teams’ most recent ODI meeting came five years ago in Harare in the Super Six stage of the 2018 World Cup Qualifier – a thrilling encounter which Ireland won by 25 runs. Both teams narrowly missed out on qualification for the 2019 World Cup.
Scotland are yet to beat Sri Lanka in official ODI matches, which include their meeting at the 2015 World Cup in Hobart. Oman and UAE have been recent opponents during the ICC CWC League 2, a competition which Scotland won to secure passage to this Qualifier.
Ahead of the Qualifier, Scotland will play two official warmup games in Harare, the first against the West Indies and the second against tournament hosts Zimbabwe. Scotland’s Interim Head Coach Doug Watson feels his squad can attack the tournament with optimism following the draw.
“I’m excited to see the draw. The two initial warmup games against West Indies and Zimbabwe will prepare us nicely for our opening game against Ireland, our nearest rivals, so we’re pretty pleased about the lead-in to the tournament. The fact these are both tough games against full member nations will set the guys up well both mentally and physically for the nature of the competition.
“Our opening game against Ireland will be pivotal for us, and it will be great if we can kick off with a win, but there won’t be any easy games in this group. Having played Sri Lanka at our last World Cup in 2015, it will be brilliant to renew that battle.
“All the games in the group are going to be tough and every team is playing for something really important at the end, so we need to be at our very best for every game in order to get through.
“I’m very pleased that DRS will be used in the Super Six stage. I would have loved for it to be used across the entire tournament, given the nature of what is at stake for every nation – you want the best technology available to you – but at least it will be there for the crucial stages of the Super Six.”
Ahead of travelling to Zimbabwe, the Scotland squad will fly to Pretoria in South Africa on Saturday, June 3, for a pre-tournament training camp, when they will also play two unofficial warmup matches games against Nepal and Netherlands.
ICC MEN’S CRICKET WORLD CUP QUALIFIER FIXTURE SCHEDULE
(All matches start at 0900 local time)
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 8th 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 10th Takashinga Cricket Club
Friday, 07 July
Super Six: A1 v B1, Harare Sports Club
Sunday, 09 July
Final, Harare Sports Club
Name of Author: Cricket Scotland
Cricket Scotland, formerly the Scottish Cricket Union, is the governing body for cricket in Scotland, based at the National Cricket Academy in Edinburgh. Established in 1908 and restructured in 2001, it became an ICC Associate Member in 1994. The organization includes three sub-associations: the East of Scotland Cricket Association, Western District Cricket Union, and Aberdeenshire Cricket Association.
