New Delhi [India], February 13 : The ICC Men's Cricket World Cup League 2 begins in Kirtipur on Thursday with Namibia, the Netherlands and hosts Nepal featuring in the first of 24 tri-series that will take four teams to within a step of qualifying for the ICC Men's Cricket World Cup 2027. The marquee event will be played in South Africa, Zimbabwe and Namibia.
Canada, Oman, Scotland, the United Arab Emirates and the United States of America are the other teams in the eight-team league that will comprise 144 matches in the lead up to the World Cup Qualifier, ICC said in a release.
The top four teams from League 2 will make it to the World Cup Qualifier. They will be joined in the Qualifier by four teams coming through the Qualifier Play-Offs as well as teams that don't qualify automatically based on ICC ODI Rankings.
Teams were placed in the World Cup League 2 and the Qualifier Play-Offs, based on the previous World Cup Qualification cycle.
The top four teams in the Qualifier, a highly competitive event that saw two-time world champions West Indies knocked out last time, will join 10 direct qualifiers in the World Cup. Co-hosts South Africa and Zimbabwe and the other top eight ranked teams will complete the 14-team World Cup lineup.
A bottom four finish in League 2 does not eliminate teams from Cricket World Cup qualification, though it does mean the added jeopardy of taking part in the Cricket World Cup Qualifier Play-off, effectively a repechage tournament also including the top four teams from the Cricket World Cup Challenge League, the third tier of international 50-over cricket.
While a strong performance at the Play-off can elevate a team back into Cricket World Cup contention via the Qualifier, there is also a risk of a poor showing from a League 2 side leading to a demotion to the Challenge League. This was the cruel fate for Papua New Guinea in the last cycle, who finished last in League 2 before a last-place finish in the Play-off.
Six teams return to League 2 after featuring in the last edition, with two new teams entering the fray. Led by wicket-keeper batter Scott Edwards, Cricket World Cup 2023 head-turners Netherlands carry the early favourites tag coming down, while Canada were promoted to the competition after finishing above Jersey and Papua New Guinea in the Qualifier Play-off early last year.
Associate international cricket is not short of storylines, with the Dutch potentially coming back to haunt defending League 2 champions Scotland. It was the Scots who had their potential Cricket World Cup 2023 place by the Dutch on Net Run Rate, with Bas de Leede's starring individual performance fresh in the memory. The Scots will be in the mix for the top four and tournament honours again, with Zeeshan Maqsood's Oman looking to go one better from their second place in the last cycle.
Hosting the Dutch and Namibia in the first tri-series, Nepal comes off a strong preparation series win over Canada, and captain Rohit Paudel says he's looking forward to future challenges across both white-ball formats.
Namibia will be looking for a revenge of sorts in their meetings with Nepal, as it was Nepal's historic ODI run, winning 12 of their last 13 ODIs in the last League 2 cycle, that curtailed Gerhard Erasmus' men to the Play-off competition, where they missed out on entry into the Qualifier.
Elsewhere, the USA returned after finishing fifth in the last League 2 cycle, while the UAE held onto their spot in the competition despite running in second-last.
Muhammad Waseem's side kept their spot by finishing above Jersey and Papua New Guinea at the Qualifier Play-off.
First League 2 Tri-series (featuring Nepal, Namibia and The Netherlands):
15 February: Nepal v Namibia
17 February: Nepal v Netherlands
19 February: Namibia v Netherlands
21 February: Nepal v Namibia
23 February: Namibia v Netherlands
25 February: Nepal v Netherlands
All matches at the Tribhuvan University Ground, Kirtipur
League 2 Teams:
Canada
Namibia
Nepal
Netherlands
Oman
Scotland
United Arab Emirates
USA.
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