The United States of America (USA) and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) have secured a place at the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup Qualifier after finishing in the top two places of an evenly contested, six-team ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup Qualifier Play-off.
USA finished on top of the table with four wins from their five matches, ahead of the UAE on head-to-head, who scored a final-day win over Jersey to level the USA on points. Hosts Namibia and Canada put in some strong performances but fell just short of progressing with three wins each from their five fixtures.
Namibia’s Gerhard Erasmus was named Player of the Tournament, with 279 runs in five games at an average of 69.75. USA’s Ali Khan topped the wicket charts with 16 wickets at an average of 12.37.
The USA and UAE are now just one stage away from securing a guaranteed nine matches at the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup 2023 that will be hosted in India later this year.
To reach the pinnacle global event of One-Day International cricket, the USA and UAE will be vying with eight other teams in Zimbabwe for two places. These will include the three automatic qualifiers from ICC CWC League 2 – Scotland, Oman, and Nepal – in addition to the bottom five-placed teams in the ICC ODI Super League.
Currently, Netherlands, Zimbabwe, Sri Lanka, and West Indies are confirmed to feature at the Qualifier in Zimbabwe, while Ireland must beat Bangladesh 3-0 in their upcoming Super League series to leapfrog South Africa and gain direct entry to the World Cup.
The Qualifier will be the culmination of four years of hard-fought competition where 32 teams started out in search of a place at what will be the biggest ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup ever.
