Scotland seek Qualifier berth as UAE, Canada aim for progress

Scotland can book their place at the ICC Men's Cricket World Cup Qualifier event when they host UAE and Canada in a ICC Men's Cricket World Cup League 2 tri-series that commences on Monday.

The European side currently sit in third place on the League 2 standings ahead of their final four matches of the event and can ensure a place in the Qualifier tournament for next year's ICC Men's Cricket World Cup with a batch of positive results on home soil across the coming 10 days.

Only the top four teams at the completion of League 2 play earn a direct place in the Cricket World Cup Qualifier, with the remaining sides forced into the Qualifier Play-off.

Scotland are without the services of injured duo Brad Currie and Owen Gould and have omitted experienced all-rounder Michael Leask from the side that travelled to Nepal in May, with Zainullah Ihsan and Michael Jones returning to the setup alongside young batter Lyle Robertson.

The tri-series will also be the first in charge at home for Owen Dawkins and the Scotland coach is looking forward to seeing how his side will perform.

“We’re looking forward to hosting Canada and UAE in what promises to be another highly competitive series. The tour of Nepal saw us played some very good cricket against excellent teams in challenging conditions, and we are ready to build on those performances and continue to improve back in front of our own fans," he said.

"The squad head into these fixtures with a clear understanding of how we want to play and a strong focus on delivering our best performances, both individually and as a team."

The tri-series will provide UAE and Canada the chance to rise the League 2 standings, with the two teams currently occupying the bottom two places on the table while holding an advantage of having more games still to play in the ongoing event.

UAE all-rounder Akshdeep Nath is taking inspiration from Ireland's shock series sweep over reigning ICC Men's T20 World Cup champions India last month heading into the tri-series, believing his side is on the improve and capable of surprising against Scotland and Canada despite their lowly position on the League 2 standings.

“We are at the bottom of the table, but we won't be there for too long,” Nath told The National. 

“We are focused on what we can do better. We are doing our part.

“We’ve never beaten (Scotland) before, but Ireland didn't beat India ever before, and they whitewashed them. It’s a new start, and I think this group is much better and more connected.

“I don’t know what was before here, but definitely now we are gelled as a team. People are aware of their roles, what they need to do, and we're looking to win at least at least three matches out of four, if not all four, in the upcoming series.”

Scotland: Richie Berrington (c), Matthew Cross, Oliver Davidson, Jasper Davidson, Michael English, Zainullah Ihsan, Jack Jarvis, Michael Jones, Ollie Jones, Finlay McCreath, Brandon McMullen, George Munsey, Lyle Robertson, Safyaan Sharif, Mark Watt

UAE: Harpreet Singh Bhatia (c), Aayan Afzal Khan, Adeeb Usmani, Akshdeep Nath, Aryansh Sharma, Dhruv Parashar, Junaid Siddique, Muhammad Arfan, Muhammad Jawadullah, Muhammad Shahdad, Muhammad Mohsin, Rahul Chopra, Simranjeet Singh, Sohaib Khan, Tanish Suri

Canada: Saad Bin Zafar (c), Aaron Johnson, Anoop Chima, Ali Khan, Ansh Patel, Harsh Thaker, Mathew Spoorts, Meet Patel, Pargat Sing, Sana Kaleem, Shreyas Movvva, Shivam Sharma, Yuvraaj Samra, Zahid Ullah Shirzad, Nicholas Kirton