Qualification spots at the ICC Men's Cricket World Cup 2023 are on the line as League 2 heads into the business end with three back-to-back tri-series to decide the final standings.
Namibia and Scotland travel to Nepal for the first tri-series in Kathmandu, with the pressure off Richie Berrington's Scots who have already accumulated enough points to progress to the Cricket World Cup Qualifier which begins on June 18.
For the hosts and Namibia a future in the 2023 qualification race is far from guaranteed, though both have time on their side.
Namibia (third with 37 points in 30 matches) have the Nepal tri-series and two make-up matches with UAE to finish their 36-match campaign, with four wins enough for them to overtake Oman (44 points in their 36 matches).
Oman's total should be enough for a top-three spot in their own right, though the door is still open for Nepal and UAE, who both feature heavily in the backend of the League 2 cycle. The Nepalis (sixth, 18 points) feature in all three tri-series, of which two are at home, in a total of 12 matches.
Waiting in the wings are UAE (fifth, 27 points), still 10 matches short of their 36, and set to resume their campaign at home in two make-up fixtures with Namibia ahead of two tri-series, of which one is on home turf.
A bottom-four finish does not eliminate League 2 teams from Cricket World Cup Qualifying, but does make their path to the 10-team tournament much more difficult, having to go through another play-off just to reach the Qualifier.
Seven teams have secured Cricket World Cup qualification already, with India there as tournament hosts alongside six teams through action in Cricket World Cup Super League.
Just one spot for automatic qualification remains through the Super League pathway, with a quartet of teams nervously needing the back end of the competition to shake out in their favour.
The West Indies currently sit in the eighth and last automatic spot (88 points), though have completed their nine-win, 24-match cycle, and must watch the rest of the competition play out without their influence.
To compound their woes, two points were deducted from their total for slow over rates against New Zealand in August, opening the door further for the chasing pack.
Sri Lanka (77 points) and Ireland (68) meanwhile have three matches left in their campaign to overtake the West Indies. Sri Lanka travel to New Zealand to close out their campaign in March, while Ireland host Bangladesh in May.
West Indies would be forced to go through the World Cup Qualifier should one or both teams overtake them on the table.
South Africa (59 points) meanwhile have three matches against England, and a clean sweep of 30 points would also put them above the West Indies. They also have two ODIs against Netherlands in March 2023, part of a series which was postponed in November 2021 due to Covid-19.
Teams finishing in spots nine to 13 will all move to the Cricket World Cup Qualifier in Zimbabwe, fighting with teams from the lower tiers. Out of the running for a top-eight spot in the Super League, Zimbabwe and the Netherlands are confirmed Qualifier entrants.
League 2 fixtures
- Nepal v Namibia: 14 February
- Namibia v Scotland: 15 February
- Nepal v Scotland: 17 February
- Nepal v Namibia: 18 February
- Scotland v Namibia: 20 February
- Nepal v Scotland: 21 February
- UAE v Namibia: 23 February
- UAE v Namibia: 25 February
- Papua New Guinea v Nepal: 27 February
- UAE v Papua New Guinea: 28 February
- UAE v Nepal: 2 March
- Nepal v Papua New Guinea: 3 March
- UAE v Papua New Guinea: 5 March
- UAE v Nepal: 6 March
- Nepal v Papua New Guinea: 9 March
- UAE v Papua New Guinea: 10 March
- Nepal v UAE: 12 March
- Nepal v Papua New Guinea: 13 March
- Papua New Guinea v UAE: 15 March
- Nepal v UAE: 16 March
How to watch on ICC.tv
Every ball of the Cricket World Cup League 2 ODIs will be live and FREE on ICC.tv.
Fans in the ALL regions (other than Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Nepal, Pakistan) can watch League 2 matches LIVE on ICC.tv on:
* ICC.tv website
* ICC.tv mobile apps (available in the App Store and Google Play)
* Samsung TV and LG TV apps
Highlights of League 2 ODIs are also available on-demand for FREE on ICC.tv.
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