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The 2018 ICC World Cup Qualifier is an upcoming cricket tournament scheduled to take place from 4-25th March 2018 in Zimbabwe, to decide the final qualification for the 2019 World Cup . The top two teams will qualify for the World Cup, joining the hosts and the seven teams who have already qualified through their ranking in the ICC ODI Championship.

Its a great moment of joy for Zimbabwe hosting a 10 team global ICC event after 50 Overs ICC World Cup 2003, co-hosted by South Africa, Zimbabwe and Kenya.

ICC Division 2 qualifiers with 6 teams are over , UAE won the final and became Champion, while Nepal ended up in Runners up, and as a result UAE & Nepal qualified as 9th & 10th team in ICC World Cup Qualifiers 2018

GROUPS :

Group A :

Windies, Ireland, Papua New Guinea , Netherlands, UAE

Group B :


Zimbabwe, Afghanistan, Hong Kong, Scotland, Nepal


Venues : Queen’s Sports Club and Bulawayo Athletic Club in Bulawayo, Harare Sports Club and Old Hararians Sports Club in Harare and Kwekwe Sports Club, Kwekwe, will share 34 matches between them from 4 to 25 March, with Harare Sports Club staging the final.


Fixtures

Round Robin League :

Group A :

4 March 2018
09:30

Papua New Guinea v United Arab Emirates
Harare Sports Club , Harare

4 March 2018
09:30

Ireland v Netherlands
Old Hararians , Harare

6 March 2018
09:30

Papua New Guinea v Ireland
Harare Sports Club , Harare

6 March 2018
09:30

West Indies v United Arab Emirates
Old Hararians , Harare

8 March 2018
09:30

Netherlands v United Arab Emirates
Harare Sports Club , Harare

8 March 2018
09:30

West Indies v Papua New Guinea
Old Hararians , Harare

10 March 2018
09:30

West Indies v Ireland
Harare Sports Club , Harare

10 March 2018
09:30

Papua New Guinea v Netherlands
Old Hararians , Harare

12 March 2018
09:30

West Indies v Netherlands
Harare Sports Club , Harare

12 March 2018

Ireland v United Arab Emirates
Old Hararians , Harare


Group B :

4 March 2018
09:30

Zimbabwe v Nepal
Queens Sports Club , Bulawayo

4 March 2018
09:30

Afghanistan v Scotland
Bulawayo Athletic Club, Bulawayo


6 March 2018
09:30


Zimbabwe v Afghanistan
Queens Sports Club , Bulawayo

6 March 2018
09:30

Scotland v Hong Kong
Bulawayo Athletic Club, Bulawayo

8 March 2018
09:30

Scotland v Nepal
Queens Sports Club , Bulawayo

8 March 2018
09:30

Afghanistan v Hong Kong
Bulawayo Athletic Club, Bulawayo

10 March 2018
09:30

Zimbabwe v Hong Kong
Queens Sports Club , Bulawayo

10 March 2018
09:30

Afghanistan v Nepal
Bulawayo Athletic Club, Bulawayo

12 March 2018
09:30

Hong Kong v Nepal
Queens Sports Club , Bulawayo

12 March 2018
09:30

Zimbabwe v Scotland
Bulawayo Athletic Club, Bulawayo

Super Sixes :


15 March 2018
09:30

A1 v B1
Harare Sports Club , Harare

15 March 2018
09:30

A3 v B3
Queens Sports Club , Bulawayo

16 March 2018
09:30

A2 v B2
Harare Sports Club , Harare

18 March 2018
09:30

A2 v B3
Harare Sports Club , Harare

19 March 2018
09:30

A1 v B2
Harare Sports Club , Harare

20 March 2018
09:30

A3 v B1
Harare Sports Club , Harare

22 March 2018
09:30

A1 v B3
Harare Sports Club , Harare

22 March 2018
09:30

A3 v B2
Old Hararians , Harare

23 March 2018
09:30

A2 v B1
Harare Sports Club , Harare



Playoffs :



15 March 2018
09:30

A5 v B4
Old Hararians , Harare

15 March 2018
09:30

A4 v B5
Kwekwe Sports Club , Kwekwe

7th/8th position play-off

17 March 2018
09:30

TBDv TBD
Kwekwe Sports Club , Kwekwe

9th/10th position play-off
17 March 2018
09:30

TBDv TBD
Old Hararians , Harare



Final :
25 March 2018
09:30

TBDv TBD
Harare Sports Club , Harare

Zimbabwe to begin their qualifiers campaign against Nepal in Bulawayo. Though huge difference between the two on pen & paper, but Nepal seems to play some figthing cricket. Bulawayo track has been slow, which might assist Nepal spinnersBasant Regmi and latest their star Sandeep Lamichhane.

So basically, we need to win at least 2 out of our 4 group games to make the super six, and at least 2 out of our 3 super six games to hopefully make the final, which guarantees a WC spot.

Mr Twig wrote: ↑

Fri Feb 16, 2018 11:21 am

So basically, we need to win at least 2 out of our 4 group games to make the super six, and at least 2 out of our 3 super six games to hopefully make the final, which guarantees a WC spot.

There are semi finals before the final which really is the real final because the winners of the semifinals go to the World Cup

jaybro wrote: ↑

Fri Feb 16, 2018 11:46 am

Mr Twig wrote: ↑

Fri Feb 16, 2018 11:21 am

So basically, we need to win at least 2 out of our 4 group games to make the super six, and at least 2 out of our 3 super six games to hopefully make the final, which guarantees a WC spot.

There are semi finals before the final which really is the real final because the winners of the semifinals go to the World Cup

Thanks. Didn't realise there are semis as well. That's probably where we bow out.

No, there are no semis. Only the super 6. Top 2 go to the world cup.

I think we are in serious trouble. I doubt West Indies will fail at the last hurdle, which means we are up against Afghanistan and Ireland. And we didn't cover ourselves in glory against Scotland either.

If everything goes right for us (eg. Taylor, Masakadza, Ervine, Cremer, Chatara all have a great tournament) then it's achievable, but based on this current series in Sharjah we are just so far off the pace.

I just don't know what it is. I just don't know how we cant get at least 2 senior players to fire at a time. That's just the standard in every team. I think we are just poor tactically as well. There is no brains in our think tank. The obvious thing to do is to analyse how we won in Sri Lanka and try repeat that. Seeing Burl at 7 just shows they are not thinkers. So if we had ended up in a situation where we need 30 off 17 was Burl going to blast us home?

My main issues are that
1- we won with an 8-3 on that long tour we had of Europe and Sri Lanka. It's definitely not a test formation because you won't take 20 wickets but if 7-4 is not working then what's the harm in trying 8-3 again? Isn't it we are experimenting right now?

2- we need more clarity in the selection including a template of the kind of players we are looking for. Had we done that straight from the tri-series we would have been in a better place. We need answers as to when exactly Williams was injured or was he dropped? He kind of suggested that he was fine in January but he didn't hand in a report on time. Why did they take Murray and Mavuta on that tour?
Afghanistan is also not based in the UAE but they also brought in t20 specialists. Just that winning feeling goes a long way. We didn't seem to care about that.
If Williams was our own version of an all rounder would it not have made sense to replace him with a similar kind of player like Mutombodzi who was in good domestic form?

I think they need to start holding press conferences explaining themselves instead of just doing what they want.

3- the senior players have to step up. In a weird way I now see the value Sean Williams adds to this team because he is a senior player. We definitely judged him too harshly. He has an important role. I have no doubt he would have contributed a lot in this series. He has his own weaknesses but he also has many strong qualities.

4- let's not just stick a player into the team and expect results. My main point of concern being Burl. What is his role in the team? That needs to be clarified. If he is better up top then the next game must be used to test that theory.

Our batting is our main concern. This tournament is for weaker teams. We don't need 4 specialist bowlers if our batting is struggling. Let's hope Williams is fit and go back to that 8-3. Even Waller then fits into that line-up as he has less pressure to build a big innings. My short term fix would be

Mire
Hami
Tari
BT
Ervine
Williams
Raza
Waller
Cremer
Jarvis
Chatara

PJ
Blessing
Chisoro
Vitori (the spare batsman is already in the team)

In Sri Lanka in 2 of the games we won we were 172-5 and 172-6 at some point. That extra batsman actually took us home. Only in the first game did our top order actually dominate completely . Do we even have a team analyst?

Mate I hate to say it but I agree with you. I always thought Williams contributed though, with either ball or bat.

Sadly maybe 8-3 is worth a try again. I have enjoyed watching us put a 7-4 but until the guys get some consistency we need more batsmen to counter it, if we were scratching even 220 against Afg I'd say no the bowlers have a chance, but 130-170 is rubbish and we need an 8th.

Sucks though, sub PJ in for waller in that line up and I'm down. Or Zhuwao or anyone to be honest.