Scotland's fixture schedule confirmed at ICC Men's World Cup Qualifier

Scotland will face great rivals Ireland and 1996 World Cup winners Sri Lanka in Group B of the ICC Men’s World Cup Qualifier in Zimbabwe in June.

The ICC today confirmed the fixture schedule for the tournament, which begins on June 18 and runs until July 9. Ten teams will compete for the final two remaining places at the 2023 ICC Men’s World Cup in India in October.

Scotland will also face Oman and UAE in the group stage, with all Group B fixtures being played in Bulawayo. Group A is based in Harare, and consists of Nepal, Netherlands, USA, West Indies, and tournament hosts Zimbabwe.

The Scots will begin their campaign against Ireland on Wednesday, June 21, before facing UAE on Friday, June 23. The Scots then take on Oman on Sunday, June 25, and conclude their Group B campaign on Tuesday, June 27 in a crunch meeting with Sri Lanka.

The top three teams in each group progressing to the Super Six stage. Those teams will each play three Super Six matches against the sides they did not meet in the initial group stage. All points won in the group stage will be carried over to the Super Six, apart from those gained against the bottom two in each group. The tournament finalists will both progress to the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup 2023.

The ICC have confirmed that for the first time at this event, DRS will be used for all matches from the Super Six onwards.

The Qualifier is the culmination of four years of competition and brings together the bottom five teams from the ICC Men’s CWC Super League, three automatic qualifiers from ICC Men’s CWC League 2 – including winners Scotland – and two teams who gained entry from the ICC Men’s CWC Qualifier Play-off.

Scotland and Ireland will renew a rivalry that goes back decades, but the teams’ most recent ODI meeting came five years ago in Harare in the Super Six stage of the 2018 World Cup Qualifier – a thrilling encounter which Ireland won by 25 runs.

Both teams narrowly missed out on qualification for the 2019 World Cup.

Scotland are yet to beat Sri Lanka in official ODI matches, which include their meeting at the 2015 World Cup in Hobart. Oman and UAE have been recent opponents during the ICC CWC League 2, a competition which Scotland won to secure passage to this Qualifier.

Ahead of the Qualifier, Scotland will play two official warmup games in Harare, the first against the West Indies and the second against tournament hosts Zimbabwe

Scotland’s Interim Head Coach Doug Watson feels his squad can attack the tournament with optimism following the draw.

“I’m excited to see the draw. The two initial warmup games against West Indies and Zimbabwe will prepare us nicely for our opening game against Ireland, our nearest rivals, so we’re pretty pleased about the lead-in to the tournament. The fact these are both tough games against full member nations will set the guys up well both mentally and physically for the nature of the competition.

“Our opening game against Ireland will be pivotal for us, and it will be great if we can kick off with a win, but there won’t be any easy games in this group. Having played Sri Lanka at our last World Cup in 2015, it will be brilliant to renew that battle.

“All the games in the group are going to be tough and every team is playing for something really important at the end, so we need to be at our very best for every game in order to get through.

“I’m very pleased that DRS will be used in the Super Six stage. I would have loved for it to be used across the entire tournament, given the nature of what is at stake for every nation – you want the best technology available to you – but at least it will be there for the crucial stages of the Super Six.”

Ahead of travelling to Zimbabwe, the Scotland squad will fly to Pretoria in South Africa on Saturday, June 3, for a pre-tournament training camp, when they will also play two unofficial warmup matches games against Nepal and Netherlands.

ICC MEN’S CRICKET WORLD CUP QUALIFIER FIXTURE SCHEDULE

(All matches start at 0900 local time)

Sunday, 18 June

Zimbabwe v Nepal, Harare Sports Club

West Indies v USA, Takashinga Cricket Club

Monday, 19 June

Sri Lanka v UAE, Queen’s Sports Club

Ireland v Oman, Bulawayo Athletic Club

Tuesday, 20 June

Zimbabwe v Netherlands, Harare Sports Club

Nepal v USA, Takashinga Cricket Club

Wednesday, 21 June

Ireland v Scotland, Queen’s Sports Club

Oman v UAE, Bulawayo Athletic Club

Thursday, 22 June

West Indies v Nepal, Harare Sports Club

Netherlands v USA, Takashinga Cricket Club

Friday, 23 June

Sri Lanka v Oman, Queen’s Sports Club

Scotland v UAE, Bulawayo Athletic Club

Saturday, 24 June

Zimbabwe v West Indies, Harare Sports Club

Netherlands v Nepal, Takashinga Cricket Club

Sunday, 25 June

Sri Lanka v Ireland, Queen’s Sports Club

Scotland v Oman, Bulawayo Athletic Club

Monday, 26 June

Zimbabwe v USA, Harare Sports Club

West Indies v Netherlands, Takashinga Cricket Club

Tuesday, 27 June

Sri Lanka v Scotland, Queen’s Sports Club

Ireland v UAE, Bulawayo Athletic Club

Thursday, 29 June

Super 6: A2 v B2, Queen’s Sports Club

Friday, 30 June

Super 6: A3 v B1, Queen’s Sports Club

Playoff: A5 v B4, Takashinga Cricket Club

Saturday, 1 July

Super 6: A1 v B3, Harare Sports Club

Sunday, 2 July

Super 6: A2 v B1, Queen’s Sports Club

Playoff: A4 v B5, Takashinga Cricket Club

Monday, 3 July

Super 6: A3 v B2, Harare Sports Club

Tuesday, 4 July

Super 6: A2 v B3, Queen’s Sports Club

Playoff: 7th v 8th Takashinga Cricket Club

Wednesday, 5 July

Super Six: A1 v B2, Harare Sports Club

Thursday, 6 July

Super Six: A3 v B3, Queen’s Sports Club

Playoff: 9th v 10th Takashinga Cricket Club

Friday, 07 July

Super Six: A1 v B1, Harare Sports Club

Sunday, 09 July

Final, Harare Sports Club