The 12th edition of ICC World Cup Qualifier is all set to get underway in Zimbabwe Sunday onwards. 10 teams will battle it out for the remaining two available spots to join the Top 8 international teams in ICC Cricket World Cup later in the year. The first match will be a Group A clash between Zimbabwe and Nepal at the Harare Sports Club.
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Led by the experienced batter Craig Ervine, Zimbabwe will certainly start as favourites against a low-ranked Nepal side. The Zimbabwean squad largely remains the same for the qualifier, except for the three changes they have made to their last year’s ICC T20 World Cup squad.
The likes of Sikandar Raza, Sean Williams, Blessing Muzarabani, Ryan Burl, Tendai Chatara are some of the experienced names who certainly have it in them to go all the way through to seal a World Cup berth.
Nepal, on the other hand, have arrived at the qualifier after winning 11 of their last 12 games in the Cricket World Cup League 2 in March. The side will be led by their opening batter Rohit Paudel, and will also include renowned leg-spinner Sandeep Lamichhane.
Harare Sports Club Pitch Report
Matches at the Harare Sports Club are generally skewed in favour of the batters, although the bowlers do get some help as well during different stages of the innings. The pacers are likely to extract decent bounce off the surface with the new ball, and which perhaps will be the ideal time for them to bowl.
The pitch generally has a tendency to slow down and will bring the slower bowlers into the game, who will bowl a major chunk of overs during the middle phase. The spinners do not manage to extract significant turn off the deck, but will be able to keep the flow of runs under check by bowling tight lines.
Average score across the five completed ODIs which have been played at this venue this year has been 268.5 runs, which makes way for a competitive battle between bat and the ball.
