ICC announces squads for final sixth round matches

Dubai, July 25, 2013: The International Cricket Council today announced the fixtures and squads for the final two encounters of the sixth round of the Pepsi ICC World Cricket League (WCL) Championship and ICC Intercontinental Cup, which kick off in Canada on1 August.

Canada will host sixth-placed United Arab Emirates (UAE) for two WCL Championship 50-over matches on 6 and 8 August at Maple Leaf, Toronto, an encounter that UAE must win to keep itself in contention for a top-two finish.

The two sides will also face off in the four day, first-class Intercontinental Cup fixture from 1 August at the same venue. UAE is currently seventh in this competition (33 points), only three points behind Netherlands (36 points), while Canada is in eighth spot (10 points).

Meanwhile, fourth-placed Afghanistan will travel to Namibia, where the two sides will meet for two WCL Championship 50-over matches at Wanderers, Windhoek, on 9 and 11 August.

Two wins for Afghanistan will see the side move to 15 points, five points behind table-topper Ireland and on equal points with Netherlands and Scotland, with one round left of the competition. These two WCL Championship matches will be streamed live and free of charge at www.icc-cricket.com

Namibia and Afghanistan will also square off in the four day Intercontinental Cup match from 4 August at Wanderers, with Afghanistan (64) currently leading fourth-placed Namibia (57) by seven points. Both sides will be aiming for a comprehensive victory, as a straight win for either will see them leap frog into second place, ahead of Scotland (66 points). Afghanistan is currently in third place with 64 points, while Namibia is in fourth, with 57 points.

The top two sides from the WCL Championship qualify directly for the ICC Cricket World Cup 2015, which is to be to be held in Australia and New Zealand. With Ireland having seized the first qualification spot after a dramatic tie against the Netherlands earlier in the round, four sides – Scotland, Netherlands, Afghanistan, and UAE – are all capable of claiming the critical second position.

The bottom six teams from the WCL Championship will receive a second chance to qualify at next year’s ICC Cricket World Cup Qualifier in New Zealand, when they lock horns with Hong Kong, Nepal, Papua New Guinea and Uganda for the final two spots in the ICC Cricket World Cup 2015.

ICC Pepsi WCL Championship

Canada (from) –Ashish Bagai, Harvir Baidwan, Rizwan Cheema, Damodar Daesrath, Parth Desai, Jeremy Gordon, Ruvindu Gunasekera, Amarbir Hansra, Nitish Kumar, Usman Limbada, Henry Osinde, Hiral Patel, Cecil Pervez and Junaid Siddiqui

UAE (from) – Khurram Khan (captain), Fayyaz Ahmed, Arshad Ali, Shaiman Anwar, Muhammad Azam, Nasir Aziz, Haroon Iftikhar, Amjad Javed, Rohan Mustafa, Muhammad Naveed, Swapnil Prakash Patil, Asadullah Shareef, Abdul Shakoor and Shadeep Silva

Afghanistan (from) – Mohammed Nabi (captain), Mirwais Ashraf, Izzatullah Dawlatzai, Hamid

Hassan, Amir Hamza Hotak, Nowroz Mangal, Mohammad Shehzad, Gulbadin Naib, Karim Sadiq, Samiullah Shinwari, Mohammad Asghar Stanikzai, Dollat Zadran, Shahpur Zadran and Rahmat Shah Zurmati

Namibia (from) – Sarel Burger (captain), Stephan Baard, Jason Davidson, Marius Delport, Merwe Erasmus, Xander Pitchers, Bernard Scholtz, Nicolaas Scholtz, JJ Smit, Louis Van Der Westhuizen, Raymond Van Schoor, Christoffel Viljoen, Craig Williams and Helao Ya France

ICC Intercontinental Cup

Canada (from) – Ashish Bagai, Harvir Baidwan, Rizwan Cheema, Damodar Daesrath, Parth Desai, Jeremy Gordon, Ruvindu Gunasekera, Amarbir Hansra, Nitish Kumar, Usman Limbada, Henry Osinde, Hiral Patel, Cecil Pervez and Junaid Siddiqui

UAE (from) – Khurram Khan (captain), Fayyaz Ahmed, Arshad Ali, Shaiman Anwar, Muhammad Azam, Nasir Aziz, Haroon Iftikhar, Amjad Javed, Rohan Mustafa, Muhammad Naveed, Swapnil Prakash Patil, Asadullah Shareef, Abdul Shakoor and Shadeep Silva

Afghanistan (from) – Mohammed Nabi (captain), Mirwais Ashraf, Izzatullah Dawlatzai, Amir Hamza Hotak, Nowroz Mangal, Mohammad Shehzad, Gulbadin Naib, Shabir Noori, Karim Sadiq, Samiullah Shinwari, Mohammad Asghar Stanikzai, Dollat Zadran, Shahpur Zadran and Rahmat Shah Zurmati

Namibia (from) – Sarel Burger (captain), Stephan Baard, Jason Davidson, Marius Delport, Merwe Erasmus, Jean Pierre Kotze, Xander Pitchers, Bernard Scholtz, Nicolaas Scholtz, JJ Smit, Raymond Van Schoor, Christoffel Viljoen, Craig Williams and Helao Ya France

Forthcoming matches

1-4 August – Intercontinental Cup, Canada v UAE, Maple Leaf, Toronto

4-7 August – Intercontinental Cup, Namibia v Afghanistan, Wanderers, Windhoek

6 August – First 50-over match, Canada v UAE, Maple Leaf, Toronto

8 August – Second 50-over match, Canada v UAE, Maple Leaf, Toronto

9 August – First 50-over match, Namibia v Afghanistan, Wanderers, Windhoek*

11 August – Second 50-over match, Namibia v Afghanistan, Wanderers, Windhoek*

* denotes matches that will be broadcast live at www.icc-cricket.com

WCL Championship points table (after sixth round fixtures between Ireland-Netherlands and Scotland-Kenya):

* Ireland became the first Associate or Affiliate side to qualify for the ICC Cricket World Cup 2015, regardless of how the seventh and final round matches of the competition pan out, after its sixth round encounter with the Netherlands. Ireland won the first ODI and then tied the second to reach an unassailable tally of 20 points.

Intercontinental Cup points table (after sixth round fixtures between Ireland-Netherlands and Scotland-Kenya):

Forthcoming matches

The following is the schedule of the seventh and final round of the WCL Championship and Intercontinental Cup:

Seventh round**

Ireland v Scotland*

Afghanistan v Kenya*

Canada v Netherlands*

UAE v Namibia*

** Dates and venues of these fixtures will be announced in due course

* Denotes fixtures that will be live streamed at www.icc-cricket.com —- ICC