All you need to know about ICC T20 World Cup Qualifier 2019
The 2019 ODI World Cup did not have even a single associate nation. With only 10 teams participating, ICC had opened the qualification for only two spots. However, cricket’s governing body is lenient in the shorter format. The 2020 T20 World Cup will consist of 16 teams initially thus allowing a chance of participation for the associate nations. The 2019 ICC T20 World Cup Qualifier beginning on 18th October in UAE will confirm the lineup.
The teams:
A total of 14 teams will be participating in this qualifier. Scotland, Netherlands, Hong Kong, Oman and Ireland qualified for the competition on the basis of their participation in the 2016 T20I World Cup. ICC ruled Zimbabwe out from the tournament since they had suspended the cricket board. UAE qualified as a virtue of being the tournament hosts.
Teams earned the remaining spots by contesting regional qualifying tournaments. Papua New Guinea topped the East Asia Pacific group. Namibia, Kenya and Nigeria grabbed the places from the African region (Nigeria replaced Zimbabwe). Jersey and Singapore were the lone qualifiers from Europe and Asia respectively. Canada and Bermuda qualified from the Americas to complete the lineup.
Tournament format:
14 teams are divided into two groups of seven each. Each team will play six matches in the group stage. At the completion of the round-robin matches, top four teams from each group will progress to the semi-final and playoffs stage. Bottom three will take no further part.
Teams at the top position in their group will directly qualify for the World Cup. Second and third-placed teams will then battle with their counterparts from the other group in semi-final play-offs. Winners will seal their spots in the World Cup. Losing teams will then play fourth-placed teams from the groups. Winners of these two encounters will take up the final two places in the World Cup.
Semi-final and Playoff format of Qualifier (Image: Wikipedia)
These six teams will play the first round with Sri Lanka and Bangladesh ahead of the World Cup. Only four of them will progress to the Super 12 round where they will be joined by India and other seven top nations.
Schedule and venue:
A total of 51 matches will be played in a span of 16 days. The skirmishes begin on 18th October with the final scheduled on 2nd November. Dubai and Abu Dhabi will be the venues with matches being played on various grounds. Multiple matches shall be played each day with the earliest beginning on 11:30 AM IST and latest starting on 9:00 PM IST.
