Netherlands on top of the ICC World Cricket League Championship

Netherlands has put a stranglehold over the ICC World Cricket League Championship after defeating Hong Kong in both the matches to take an outright lead in the eight-team competition.

Netherlands defeated Hong Kong by five runs in the first match on 16 February, and then wrapped up the series on 18 February with a 13-run victory. Both the matches provided tremendous excitement as over 1,250 runs over scored in 200 overs for the loss of 33 wickets.

Netherlands is now on 16 points from 10 matches, and leads its closes rival Papua New Guinea (PNG) by four points from two less matches. Hong Kong is on 11 points from 10 matches.

In the upcoming fifth round matches, Nepal will host Kenya on 11 and 13 March, PNG will travel to Abu Dhabi to play the United Arab Emirates on 2 and 4 April, and Scotland and Namibia will go head to head on 11 and 13 June with the venue to be confirmed in due course.

If PNG wins both its matches, then it will join Netherlands on 16 points from 10 matches, while Scotland’s double-win will put it on 15 points from as many games.

Netherlands’ remaining matches are against Kenya, which is presently on eight points from eight matches, and Namibia, which has won only one of its eight matches. PNG, in contrast and apart from playing UAE in fifth round, will play Scotland and Hong Kong in its last two rounds.

The top sides from this tournament will join the bottom four sides on the MRF Tyres ICC ODI Team Rankings in the 10-team ICC Cricket World Cup Qualifier 2018. The two sides from the qualifier will complete the 10-team line-up for the ICC Cricket World Cup 2019 which will be staged from 30 May - 15 July 2019.