The 2023 ICC Men's Cricket World Cup Qualifier is planned to happen in June and July 2023 in Zimbabwe. It's the 12th time this qualifier competition is taking place for determining the last two contenders for the upcoming 2023 World Cup. This will not be the first time that Zimbabwe Cricket host the ICC World Cup Qualifiers tournament as they had also organized the World Cup qualification tournament before, in March 2018.
ICC World Cup 2023 Qualifier Venues
All the enthralling matches of this World Cup 2023 qualifier will be held in four different stadiums in Harare and Bulawayo i.e,
- Harare Sports Club
- Takashinga Cricket Club
- Queens Sports Club
- Bulawayo Athletic Club.
ICC World Cup 2023 Qualifier Squad
The qualifier round for the ICC Men's Cricket World Cup 2023 comprises 10 teams, which are divided into two groups of five teams each. In Group A, there are Zimbabwe, West Indies, Netherlands, Nepal, and United States. Group B consists of Sri Lanka, Ireland, Scotland, Oman, and the United Arab Emirates.
Format of the ICC World Cup 2023 Qualifier
During the group round, each team will fight against eachother once and then the top three teams from both groups will confirm their spot in the Super Six stage. During the Super Six stage, the teams will face off against the teams they haven't played in the group stage. The ultimate goal for all the teams is to reach the final, as the two finalists will secure a place in the ICC Men's Cricket World Cup 2023. Notably, the Decision Review System (DRS) will be employed exclusively for matches commencing from the Super Six stage onwards for the first time.
In addition to the overall match results, the net run rate will also be calculated for each team in the Cricket World Cup Qualifier. The net run rate is a crucial factor in determining the final standings and determining the two teams that will advance to the next stage. When two teams have an equal number of points, the following factors will be used to determine the teams' final rankings:
- The team with the highest number of wins will be ranked higher.
- If the number of wins is still the same, the team with more wins against the other teams that have the same points and equal number of wins will be ranked higher.
- If there is still a tie, the team with the highest net run rate will be given a higher rank.
- If the teams are still tied, they will be ordered according to their original seeding.
ICC World Cup 2023 Qualifier Dates
From 18th June to 9th July 2023, the ICC World Cup 2023 Qualifier round will be played amoung 10 teams for the final two spots and thus to confirm their place in the ICC World Cup 2023.
The tournament will kick off with the host nation, Zimbabwe, playing against Nepal on the opening matchday at Harare Sports Club on Jun2 18. The West Indies, who have won the World Cup twice, will also be in action on June 18, taking on their neighboring team, the United States, at Takashinga Cricket Club.
Group B matches will begin on June 19 in Bulawayo. Sri Lanka, the champions of the 1996 World Cup, will face the United Arab Emirates at Queen's Sports Club. At the same venue, Ireland will go head-to-head against Oman at Bulawayo Athletic Club. The Netherlands will commence their campaign against Zimbabwe on June 20 at Harare Sports Club, while Scotland will face their rivals, Ireland, in Bulawayo on June 21 at Queens Sports Club.
The Super Six stage will commence on June 29, where the top teams from each group will compete against each other.
Live Streaming of ICC World Cup 2023 Qualifier
- Cricket lovers can watch the Cricket World Cup Qualifier Play-off on Fancode if they are in Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Nepal, or Pakistan.
- In the United States, it will be available on Willow TV.
- For fans in other regions, they can watch the Qualifier Play-off live and for free on ICC.tv. Cricket fans can aslo access it through the ICC.tv website, ICC.tv mobile apps (available on the App Store and Google Play), as well as Samsung TV and LG TV apps.