Abu Dhabi to host finals of ICC World Twenty20 Qualifier 2013

The International Cricket Council (ICC) has announced that the final stages of the ICC World Twenty20 Qualifier 2013 will be held at Zayed Cricket Stadium in Abu Dhabi.

The revised schedule now sees the final four days of the tournament move to the capital city.

The double-header matches at Zayed Cricket Stadium, on the last two days of the tournament (November 29 and 30), will now have start times of 2pm and 6pm.

The tournament will see 16 sides, split into two groups of eight, compete for six available spots in the ICC World Twenty20 2014 in Bangladesh.

Groups for the ICC World Twenty20 Qualifier 2013 in UAE are:

Group A – Ireland (A1),  Namibia (A2), Canada (A3), Uganda (A4), USA (A5), Italy (A6), Hong Kong (A7) and UAE (A8)

Group B – Afghanistan (B1), Netherlands (B2), Scotland (B3), Kenya (B4), Bermuda (B5), Denmark (B6), Nepal (B7) and Papua New Guinea (PNG) (B8)

The sides that top the two groups at the conclusion of the group stages will automatically qualify for Bangladesh 2014.

The sides that finish second and third in each of the two groups will play cross-over matches with the two winners also progressing to the ICC World Twenty20 2014. 

The sides that finish fourth and fifth in each of the two groups will also play cross-over matches, with the winners of these two matches then playing the losers of the second v third cross-over fixtures; the victors of these matches will then also progress into the ICC World Twenty20 Bangladesh 2014.

The schedule for the cross-over matches is as follows:

Wednesday November 27

Match 60 (Play Off) – 2nd Group A v 3rd Group B, (1000-1300), Zayed Cricket Stadium, Abu Dhabi

Match 61 (Play Off) – 4th Group A v 5th Group B, (1000-1300), Abu Dhabi Oval 1, Abu Dhabi

Match 62(Play Off) – 5th Group A v 4th Group B, (1000-1300), Abu Dhabi Oval 2, Abu Dhabi

Match 63 (Play Off) – 3rd Group A v 2nd Group B, (1400-1700), Zayed Cricket Stadium, Abu Dhabi

Thursday November 28

Match 64 (Play Off) – Winner Match 61 v Loser Match 60, (1000-1300), Zayed Cricket Stadium, Abu Dhabi

Match 65 (9/10 Ranking) – Loser Match 61 v Loser Match 62, (1000-1300), Abu Dhabi Oval 2, Abu Dhabi

Match 66 (Play Off) – Winner Match 62 v Loser of Match 63, (1400-1700), Zayed Cricket Stadium, Abu Dhabi

Once the six qualifying teams have been identified, the event will see a semifinals double-header taking place at Zayed Cricket Stadium where the winner of Group A will play the winner of Match 63 and the winner of Group B will play the winner of Match 60. The victors of these two games will then progress to the final of the tournament.

The losers of the semifinals will then play each other in the third/fourth play-off while the final two qualifying sides will play a fifth/sixth play-off.

The final finishing positions of the teams in this event will determine to which group they will go into for the first round of the ICC World Twenty20 2014 tournament, alongside Bangladesh and Zimbabwe.

The schedule for the play-off matches are as follows:

Friday November 29

Match 67 (7/8 Ranking) – Loser Match 64 v Loser Match 66, (1000-1300), Abu Dhabi Oval 1, Abu Dhabi

Match 68 (Semifinal 1) – Winner Group B v Winner Match 60, (1400-1700), Zayed Cricket Stadium, Abu Dhabi

Match 69 (5/6 Rankings) – Winner Match 64 v Winner Match 66, (1400-1700), Abu Dhabi Oval 1, Abu Dhabi

Match 70 (Semifinal 2) – Winner Group A v Winner Match 63, (1800-2100), Zayed Cricket Stadium, Abu Dhabi

Saturday November 30

Match 71 (3/4 Ranking) – Loser Semifinal 1 v Loser of Semifinal 2, (1400-1700), Zayed Cricket Stadium, Abu Dhabi

Match 72 (Final) – Winner Semifinal 1 v Winner Semifinal 2, (1800-2100), Zayed Cricket Stadium, Abu Dhabi