An emotional Zimbabwe win, Netherlands land in Super Six: CWC23 Qualifier Daily Digest - Day 7

Sri Lanka v Ireland

Scotland v Oman

CWC Qualifier 2023: All you need to know

Sikandar Raza fires Zimbabwe up

Sikandar Raza was in top form in Harare in the Cricket World Cup Qualifier clash against West Indies, stepping up with bat, ball and in the field to help Zimbabwe take two crucial points into the Super Six stage.

A 58-ball 68 with the bat was followed by an economical spell with the ball, where he also picked up the big scalp of Shai Hope with a cracking delivery. He capped things off with a low catch at short mid-wicket to finish West Indies’ innings and seal Zimbabwe’s win amidst loud cheers from the crowd.

‘An emotional day for everybody’ — Craig Ervine knows what the win means

Zimbabwe had the crowd right behind them all tournament, and that was even more so the case in their big game against the West Indies on Saturday.

Dramatic scenes on and off the field were witnessed as Zimbabwe beat the Windies to take four crucial points into the Super Six stage, one that effectively gives them a stronghold for a place among the top two to make it to India for the main tournament.

“Today has been quite an emotional day for everybody,” Zimbabwe skipper Craig Ervine said after the win.

“It’s been a long time since I heard they closed the gates at 11 in the morning.”

A tricky catch well taken

Netherlands steamrolled Nepal on their way to the Super Six of the Cricket World Cup Qualifier and Teja Nidamanuru, who played a vital hand in their win against USA, turned heads with a terrific catch despite a distraction from his teammate running in to attempt the same catch.

How the Super Six works

Points earned in the group stage against other teams that also qualify for the Super Six are considered in that stage of the Cricket World Cup Qualifier.

The net run rate from matches against other teams to progress from the group are also carried over to the Super Six stage.
This means that Zimbabwe will carry forward four points (with wins over Netherlands and West Indies) while West Indies and Netherlands will carry two apiece.

State of play in CWC23 Qualifier: Super Six spots and critical points still up for grabs

Sikandar Raza loves those awards

In less than a year, Sikandar Raza has collected 12 Player of the Match awards across formats for Zimbabwe, including eight in ICC tournaments. He had won three such awards in Australia at the ICC Men's T20 World Cup 2022 and a further three prior to that in the T20 World Cup Qualifier.

He already has two in the ongoing 2023 Cricket World Cup Qualifier with a century against Netherlands fetching him the award earlier in the week.

CWCQ – The format

Two groups, each made up of five teams, play 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.

Cricket World Cup Qualifier teams

Ireland, Nepal, Netherlands, Oman, Scotland, Sri Lanka, UAE, USA, West Indies and Zimbabwe make up the 10 teams playing in the Cricket World Cup Qualifier 2023.

Follow Cricket World Cup Qualifier live scores

Follow the live scores in the Cricket World Cup Qualifier in the ICC Match Centre.

Match Centres and Scorecards