World Twenty20 Qualifiers Start

~ Cheryl

Out in Dubai teams from eight countries are vying for the honor of going to the world Twenty20 cricket tournament in the West Indies later this year. The eight test-playing nations qualify for the finals by right, but Twenty20 is a version of the game where luck can play a big part and so less-skilled teams can make an impact, and of course there’s a share of the television revenues of the main tournament at stake. The two teams that come through the Dubai tournament will have won a place on the world stage.

The teams are divided into two groups:

  • Group A: Afghanistan, Ireland, Scotland, USA
  • Group B: Canada, Netherlands, Kenya, UAE

Two teams from each group will qualify for the final stages, and two teams from that will go forward to the main event.

Today’s results are as follows:

  • Afghanistan beat Ireland by 13 runs
  • Netherlands beat Canada by 6 wickets
  • UAE beat Kenya by 15 runs
  • USA beat Scotland by 6 wickets

If I’d been asked to pick the two qualifiers before the tournament I would have gone for Ireland and the Netherlands. The Afghans have done very well. But there are jaws on the floor all around the cricket world over the USA’s thrashing of Scotland. The Americans have already beaten UAE in a warm-up match, and they’ll always fancy their chances against Canada, so they might be starting to think of going all the way. First, however, they have to get through tomorrow’s game against a very embarrassed Ireland side, and then on Thursday they play Afghanistan in a match that has huge significance in Kabul, if not in Washington.

5 thoughts on “World Twenty20 Qualifiers Start”

  1. As I said on Face Book (which you’re not on…)

    “I could have been conflicted by this (being mostly of Scots heritage) but I’m not really. Great start for the US team!!!”

    I’m really rooting for my home team (as it were – I don’t know if any of our BACA members qualified for the national team.) I’d like the profile for Cricket (in any form) to be raised here in the states.

    1. I most definitely am on Facebook. I never both to read what’s in my feed there because I have way too many friends to keep up with, and I block all applications, but I am there.

  2. I am shocked that this didn’t even make US ESPN’s Sportscenter. I guess ESPN doesn’t like Cricket. US has a better chance in advancing to the finals of World Twenty20 than I thought.

    1. It might make it to ESPN if the US team makes it through this tournament – why report the failure in a sport that their average viewer isn’t even aware of. Though it is interesting that cricinfo.com is an ESPN operated site…

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