The Cricket World Cup Qualifier will see 10 teams meet in Zimbabwe for a shot at the last two spots at the Cricket World Cup 2023. The ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup 2023 Qualifier will be held in Zimbabwe with the hosts joined by Ireland, Nepal, Netherlands, Oman, Scotland, Sri Lanka, UAE, USA and West Indies in a battle for the two remaining places at the showcase ODI event later this year. The Cricket World Cup Qualifier starts on today Sunday June 18 with two groups each made up of five teams playing a round-robin series within their group. The top three teams in each group then progress to the CWC Qualifier Super Six stage, while carrying over their results from the two matches against the other teams to advance from their initial group.

The teams that progress to the Super Six stage will then play the three teams to advance from their opposite group to complete the pivotal match-ups. The top two teams at the end of the Super Six stage will book their ticket to the ICC Men's Cricket World Cup 2023 in India later this year, while also facing off in a CWC Qualifier Final on July 9. The four teams that miss out on the Super Six stage will meet to decide the seventh to 10th places at the CWC Qualifier, and help make it 34 ODI matches across the event. The CWC Qualifier is the finale of four years of tense ODI competition that brings together the bottom five teams from the ICC Men’s CWC Super League, three automatic qualifiers from the ICC Men’s CWC League 2, and two teams that qualified from the ICC Men’s CWC Qualifier Play-off.

The eight teams already qualified for the Cricket World Cup 2023 through the CWC Super League are the hosts India, as well as Afghanistan, Australia, Bangladesh, England, New Zealand, Pakistan and South Africa. The Cricket World Cup Qualifier will be held in Zimbabwe from June 18 to July 9. The group stage will be completed on June 27, with the top three teams in each group progressing to the Super Six stage. The Super Six stage will then take place from June 29 to July 7, with the top two teams facing off in a CWC Qualifier Final on July 9 as well as progressing to the Cricket World Cup in India later in the year. A playoff series to decide seventh to 10th-place in the CWC Qualifier will run from June 30 to July 6.

Cricket World Cup Qualifier format. The 10 teams have been split into two groups of five, where they will face each other in a round-robin group stage to each play four ODIs. The winner of each match will be awarded two points; with a tie, no result or abandoned match resulting in one point each. For the first time in a CWC Qualifier the Decision Review System (DRS) will be available in all matches from the Super Six stage onwards.

Cricket World Cup Qualifier squads

Ireland: Andrew Balbirnie (c), Mark Adair, Curtis Campher, Gareth Delany, George Dockrell, Graham Hume, Josh Little, Andy McBrine, Barry McCarthy, PJ Moor, Paul Stirling, Harry Tector, Lorcan Tucker, Ben White, Craig Young.

Nepal: Rohit Paudel (c), Kushal Bhurtel, Aasif Sheikh, Gyanendra Malla, Kushal Malla, Aarif Sheikh, Dipendra Singh Airee, Gulsan Jha, Sompal Kami, Karan KC, Sandeep Lamichhane, Bhim Sharki, Lalit Rajbanshi, Pratish JC, Arjun Saud, Kishor Mahato

Netherlands: Scott Edwards (c), Max O'Dowd, Logan van Beek, Vikram Singh, Aryan Dutt, Viv Kingma, Bas de Leede, Noah Croes, Ryan Klein, Teja Nidamanuru, Wesley Barresi, Shariz Ahmad, Clayton Floyd, Michael Levitt, Saqib Zulfiqar.

Oman: Zeeshan Maqsood (c), Aqib Ilyas (vc), Jatinder Singh, Kashyap Prajapati, Shoaib Khan, Mohammed Nadeem, Sandeep Goud, Ayaan Khan, Suraj Kumar, Adeel Shafique, Naseem Khushi, Bilal Khan, Kaleemullah, Fayyaz Butt, Jay Odedra, Samay Shrivastav, Rafiullah

Scotland: Richie Berrington (c), Matthew Cross, Alasdair Evans, Chris Greaves, Jack Jarvis, Michael Leask, Tom Mackintosh, Chris McBride, Brandon McMullen, George Munsey, Adrian Neill, Safyaan Sharif, Chris Sole, Hamza Tahir, Mark Watt

Sri Lanka: Dasun Shanaka (c), Kusal Mendis (vc & wk), Dimuth Karunaratne, Pathum Nissanka, Charith Asalanka, Dhananjaya de Silva, Sadeera Samarawickrama (wk), Wanindu Hasaranga, Chamika Karunaratne, Dushmantha Chameera, Kasun Rajitha, Lahiru Kumara, Maheesh Theekshana, Matheesha Pathirana, Dushan Hemantha

UAE: Mohammad Waseem (c), Ethan D'Souza, Ali Naseer, Vriitya Aravind, Rameez Shahzad, Jawadullah, Asif Khan, Rohan Mustafa, Aayan Khan, Junaid Siddique, Zahoor Khan, Sanchit Sharma, Aryansh Sharma, Karthik Meiyappan, Basil Hameed

USA: Monank Patel (c), Aaron Jones (vc), Abhishek Paradkar, Ali Khan, Gajanand Singh, Jasdeep Singh, Kyle Philip,Nisarg Patel, Nostush Kenjige, Saiteja Mukkamalla, Saurabh Netravalkar, Shayan Jahangir, Steven Taylor, Sushant Modani, Usman Rafiq

West Indies: Shai Hope (c), Rovman Powell (vc), Shamarh Brooks, Yannic Cariah, Keacy Carty, Johnson Charles, Roston Chase, Jason Holder, Akeal Hosein, Alzarri Joseph, Brandon King, Kyle Mayers, Keemo Paul, Nicholas Pooran, Romario Shepherd

Zimbabwe: Ryan Burl, Tendai Chatara, Craig Ervine, Bradley Evans, Joylord Gumbie, Luke Jongwe, Innocent Kaia, Clive Madande, Wessly Madhevere, Tadiwanashe Marumani, Wellington Masakadza, Blessing Muzarabani, Richard Ngarava, Sikandar Raza, Sean Williams.

Credit: Independent News Pakistan-INP