Kathmandu – Tribhuvan University Cricket Ground will host the tri-series between Nepal, Oman and USA from 5 – 12 February, 2020 as International Cricket Council (ICC) today announced the first eight series of the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup League 2 to begin in August 2019 on the Road to India 2023.
The Men’s Cricket World Cup League 2 provides more competitive cricket for Namibia, Nepal, Oman, PNG, Scotland, UAE and USA, with each team playing 36 One Day Internationals (ODIs) over two and half years from August 2019 to January 2022, where teams are just two steps away from the Men’s Cricket World Cup 2023. The League will see 126 ODIs played across 21 tri-series, with the first series kicking off in Scotland on 14 August 2019.
| Tri-series | Date | Host |
|---|---|---|
| Nepal, USA, Oman | 5 – 12 February, 2020 | Nepal |
| Namibia, Nepal, Scotland | 20 – 27 April, 2020 | Namibia |
| PNG, UAE, Nepal | 9 – 16 June, 2020 | PNG |
| Scotland, Nepal, Namibia | June 2020 | TBC |
| Oman, USA, Nepal | January 2021 | TBC |
| Nepal, UAE, PNG | February 2021 | TBC |
| USA, Nepal, Oman | August 2021 | TBC |
| Nepal, Namibia, Scotland | November 2021 | TBC |
| UAE, PNG, Nepal | January 2022 | TBC |
Nepal will play away tri-series against Namibia and Scotland in Namibia from April 20-27, 2020. Likewise, in June, PNG will host Nepal and UAE for the tri-series from June 9-16, 2020.
Each series will see teams play a total of six ODIs, with teams competing for the top three spots of the League 2 table which will confirm their place in the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup Qualifier 2022.
The bottom four teams will drop into the Men’s Cricket World Cup Qualifier Play-Off 2022 – which is a repechage event to the Global Qualifier- and will be joined by the winner of Challenge League A and B. The top two teams from the Play-Off will keep their hopes alive of participating in India 2023.
For the first time in cricket’s history 20 teams will have ODI status providing more opportunity for ODI cricket both in ICC events and in Member organised bilateral cricket.
