ICC WT20 Qualifier 2013 begins

The 16 teams have been divided into two groups with last year’s winner, Ireland, in Group A alongside Canada, Hong Kong, Italy, Namibia, Uganda, USA and the host United Arab Emirates, while Group B comprises of Afghanistan, Bermuda, Denmark, Netherlands, Nepal, Kenya, Papua New Guinea (PNG) and Scotland.

The top six sides in the tournament will qualify for the ICC World Twenty20 2014 scheduled to be held in Bangladesh in March next year. The qualifying teams will form part of the opening round of Twenty20 cricket’s crowning event.

This is the third time that the ICC World Twenty20 Qualifier is being held in the UAE. The tournament was last hosted in the country in 2012 and saw Afghanistan and Ireland claiming the qualifying positions.

Tournament Format

According to the tournament format, the sides that will top the two groups at the conclusion of the group stages will automatically qualify for Bangladesh 2014 without having to make the final of the ICC World Twenty20 Qualifier 2013.

Meanwhile, the sides that finish second and third in the two groups will play cross-over matches to be played at Dubai International Cricket Stadium on 27 November in a double-header. The two winners will also progress to the ICC World Twenty20 Qualifier 2014.

The sides that finish fourth and fifth in the two groups will also play cross-over matches, to be played at ICC Academy Oval 1 and Oval 2 respectively. The winners of these two matches will then play the losers of the third v fourth cross-over fixtures; the victors of these matches will then also progress into the ICC World Twenty20 Bangladesh 2014.

Once the six qualifying teams have been identified, the winner of Group A will play the winner of the A2 v B3 play-off and the winner of Group B will play the winner of the A3 v B2 play-off, the victors of these two games will then progress to the final of the tournament.

The losers of the semi-finals will then play each other in the third/fourth play-off while the final two qualifying sides will play a fifth/sixth play-off. The rankings of the teams overall from this event will then identify as to which group they will go into for the first round of the ICC World Twenty20 2014 tournament, alongside Bangladesh and Zimbabwe.

The top eight Twenty20 sides, from the Full Members have automatically qualified for the second round of the ICC World Twenty20 2014, while the top two sides from the first round will join them later in the event.

The two groups are:

Group A: UAE, Hong Kong, Uganda, Italia, Ireland, USA, Canada, Namibia

Group B: Scotland, Papua new Guinea, Afghanistan, Nepal, Denmark, Kenya, Bermuda, Netherlands