The 2019 ICC Men's T20 World Cup Qualifier was a

cricket Cricket is a Bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball game played between two Sports team, teams of eleven players on a cricket field, field, at the centre of which is a cricket pitch, pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two Bail (cr ...

tournament held during October and November 2019 in the United Arab Emirates to determine the teams that would qualify for the

2021 ICC Men's T20 World Cup The 2021 ICC Men's T20 World Cup was the seventh edition of the Men's T20 World Cup, formerly known as the ICC World Twenty20, a Twenty20 cricket tournament that took place from 17 October to 14 November 2021. The tournament was hosted by Unit ...

tournament. The six teams finishing highest in the qualifier tournament joined

Sri Lanka Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, also known historically as Ceylon, is an island country in South Asia. It lies in the Indian Ocean, southwest of the Bay of Bengal, separated from the Indian subcontinent, ...

and

Bangladesh Bangladesh, officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, eighth-most populous country in the world and among the List of countries and dependencies by ...

in the first group stage of the 2020 ICC Men's T20 World Cup. The tournament formed part of the ICC T20 World Cup Qualifier series, with the Netherlands winning the final. In April 2018, the

International Cricket Council The International Cricket Council (ICC) is the global Sports governing body, governing body of cricket. It was founded as the Imperial Cricket Conference in 1909 by representatives from Australia, England, and South Africa. In 1965, the body wa ...

(ICC) granted full international status to

Twenty20 Twenty20 (abbreviated T20) is a shortened format of cricket. At the professional level, it was introduced by the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) in 2003 for the county cricket, inter-county competition. In a Twenty20 game, the two t ...

men's matches played between member sides from 1 January 2019 onwards. Therefore, all the matches in the Regional Finals and the Qualifier itself, were played as full

Twenty20 International Twenty20 International (T20I) is a form of Twenty20 cricket, in which each team plays a single innings with a maximum of twenty overs. The matches are played between international teams recognized by the International Cricket Council (ICC). ...

s (T20Is). In July 2019, the ICC suspended

Zimbabwe Cricket Zimbabwe Cricket (ZC), previously known as the Zimbabwe Cricket Union (ZCU) until 2004, is the governing body for the sport of cricket in Zimbabwe. Zimbabwe Cricket is a full member of the International Cricket Council (ICC), and administers th ...

, with the team barred from taking part in ICC events, which put their participation in the tournament in doubt. The following month, with Zimbabwe banned from taking part in international cricket tournaments, the ICC named

Nigeria Nigeria, officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf of Guinea in the Atlantic Ocean to the south. It covers an area of . With Demographics of Nigeria, ...

as their replacement in the tournament.

Papua New Guinea Papua New Guinea, officially the Independent State of Papua New Guinea, is an island country in Oceania that comprises the eastern half of the island of New Guinea and offshore islands in Melanesia, a region of the southwestern Pacific Ocean n ...

were the first team to qualify for the 2020 ICC Men's T20 World Cup from the tournament, after they won Group A, finishing above the

Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

net run rate Net run rate (NRR) is a statistical method used in analysing teamwork and/or performance in cricket. It is the most commonly used method of ranking teams with equal points in limited overs league competitions, similar to goal difference in foo ...

. It was the first time that Papua New Guinea had qualified for a World Cup in any format.

Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...

became the second team to qualify when they won Group B, also on net run rate. Both teams also advanced to the playoff section of the qualifier. They were joined by the

Namibia Namibia, officially the Republic of Namibia, is a country on the west coast of Southern Africa. Its borders include the Atlantic Ocean to the west, Angola and Zambia to the north, Botswana to the east and South Africa to the south; in the no ...

and

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

from Group A, and

Oman Oman, officially the Sultanate of Oman, is a country located on the southeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula in West Asia and the Middle East. It shares land borders with Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and Yemen. Oman’s coastline ...

, the

United Arab Emirates The United Arab Emirates (UAE), or simply the Emirates, is a country in West Asia, in the Middle East, at the eastern end of the Arabian Peninsula. It is a Federal monarchy, federal elective monarchy made up of Emirates of the United Arab E ...

and

Hong Kong Hong Kong)., Legally Hong Kong, China in international treaties and organizations. is a special administrative region of China. With 7.5 million residents in a territory, Hong Kong is the fourth most densely populated region in the wor ...

from Group B. In the first qualifier match in the playoffs, the Netherlands qualified for the T20 World Cup when they beat the United Arab Emirates by eight wickets, after the UAE only scored 80 runs in their innings. The second qualifier match saw Namibia advance to their first T20 World Cup after beating Oman by 54 runs. Scotland beat tournament hosts the United Arab Emirates in the third qualifier by 90 runs to secure their place in the Men's T20 World Cup. The final qualifier match saw Oman become the last team to qualify for the Men's T20 World Cup, after they narrowly beat Hong Kong by 12 runs. Scotland beat Oman by five wickets to win the fifth-place playoff match. In the first semi-final, the Netherlands beat Ireland by 21 runs to advance to the final. They were joined in the final with Papua New Guinea, after they beat Namibia by 18 runs in the second semi-final. Ireland beat Namibia by 27 runs to win the third-place playoff. The final saw the Netherlands beat Papua New Guinea by seven wickets to win the tournament. Namibia's captain,

Gerhard Erasmus Merwe Gerhard Erasmus (born 11 April 1995) is a Namibian cricketer, and the current captain of the Namibia cricket team. Career Erasmus first played at senior level for Namibia in February 2011, aged 15, against a touring Marylebone Cricket Club ...

, was named the player of the tournament.

Teams and qualifications

Sub-regional qualification groups began on 26 February 2018 in Argentina. In the

Americas group The Americas, sometimes collectively called America, are a landmass comprising the totality of North America and South America.''Webster's New World College Dictionary'', 2010 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Cleveland, Ohio. When viewed as a sing ...

, both the

Cayman Islands The Cayman Islands () is a self-governing British Overseas Territories, British Overseas Territory, and the largest by population. The territory comprises the three islands of Grand Cayman, Cayman Brac and Little Cayman, which are located so ...

and

Bermuda Bermuda is a British Overseas Territories, British Overseas Territory in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean. The closest land outside the territory is in the American state of North Carolina, about to the west-northwest. Bermuda is an ...

registered wins against

Argentina Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic, is a country in the southern half of South America. It covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest country in South America after Brazil, the fourt ...

. A total of 61 Associate Member teams out of originally scheduled 62 teams competed.

Zambia Zambia, officially the Republic of Zambia, is a landlocked country at the crossroads of Central Africa, Central, Southern Africa, Southern and East Africa. It is typically referred to being in South-Central Africa or Southern Africa. It is bor ...

were originally scheduled to compete in the Southern sub region group in the Africa Qualifier, but later withdrew. Of these teams, 25 of them progressed to the regional finals in 2019, with the top sevenThe

initially qualified to the Asia Regional Final, but later automatically progressed to the qualifier tournament as the host. teams progressing to the qualifier tournament. They were joined by the top six teams from the 2015 qualifier that were outside the top ten places in the

ICC T20I Championship The ICC Men's T20I Team Rankings is an international Twenty20 cricket rankings system of the International Cricket Council. After every Twenty20 International (T20I) match, the two teams involved receive points based on a mathematical formula. Th ...

by the cut-off date of 31 December 2018, and the tournament host.

ICC T20I Championship

Host nation,

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

, and the nine best teams (according to the ICC T20I Championship ranking of 31 December 2018) who played in the last edition of ICC Men's T20 World Cup qualified for the final tournament directly. The remaining six entrants from the last tournament competed in the Regional Qualifiers of the World Cup qualifying tournaments. Of the teams in the ICC T20I Championship ranking, initially the

and

Nepal Nepal, officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal, is a landlocked country in South Asia. It is mainly situated in the Himalayas, but also includes parts of the Indo-Gangetic Plain. It borders the Tibet Autonomous Region of China Ch ...

could only qualify through regional competitions. However, in March 2019, the ICC announced that the UAE would host the qualifier tournament, resulting in their automatic qualification. Later the same month, the ICC released the match schedule for all the Regional Finals, with the UAE omitted from the fixture list for the Asia Regional Final. The number of teams that could qualify from the Asia Regional Final was also reduced from two to one. The final rankings for automatic qualification as of 31 December 2018 were as follows:

Regional qualifications

62 teams were originally scheduled to compete in 12 regional qualification groups during 2018 across five regions, with 61 taking part. The top 25 teams progressed to five regional finals in 2019, with eight teams progressing to the 2019 qualifier tournament. The host nation of each sub-regional group and regional final groups are shown in bold. All the sub-regional stage matches in the European section were held in the Netherlands.

Squads

UAE squad

Ahead of the tournament,

Mohammad Naveed Mohammad Naveed (born 3 June 1987) is a cricketer who played for the United Arab Emirates national cricket team. He made his One Day International (ODI) debut against Afghanistan national cricket team, Afghanistan on 2 May 2014 and his Twenty20 I ...

was withdrawn from the UAE's squad, with Ahmed Raza named as captain in his place. Qadeer Ahmed and

Shaiman Anwar Shaiman Anwar Butt (; born 15 March 1979) is a former cricketer who played for the United Arab Emirates national cricket team. A powerful right-handed top-order batsman, he made his debut for the United Arab Emirates national side in December 2 ...

were also dropped from the UAE's squad, with

Waheed Ahmed Waheed Ahmed (born 15 November 1985) is a Pakistani-born cricketer who plays for the United Arab Emirates national cricket team. He made his Twenty20 debut for the United Arab Emirates against the England Lions on 4 December 2015. In March 2019 ...

, Darius D'Silva and Junaid Sidique added to their squad. Two days before the start of the tournament, the ICC confirmed that the three players dropped from the UAE's squad had all been suspended after they had breached cricket's anti-corruption rules. Mohammad Naveed and Shaiman Anwar were believed to be planning to fix matches in the tournament, while Qadeer Ahmed was approached to fix a match during the UAE's tour of Zimbabwe in April 2019. On 21 October 2019,

Ashfaq Ahmed Ashfaq Ahmed (; 22 August 1925 – 7 September 2004) was a Pakistani writer, playwright and broadcaster. His works in Urdu included novels, short stories and plays for Pakistan Television Corporation, Pakistan Television and Radio Pakistan. H ...

became the fourth UAE cricketer to be suspended by the ICC. Ahmed had played in the first two matches for the team in the tournament. On 21 October 2019, Ghulam Shabber, the UAE's

wicket-keeper In cricket, the wicket-keeper is the Cricket player, player on the fielding (cricket), fielding side who stands behind the wicket, ready to stop Delivery (cricket), deliveries that pass the batsman, and take a Caught, catch, Stumped, stump the ...

, did not show up for the pre-match meeting ahead of the fixture against

. It later transpired that Shabber had left the country without an explanation, before being traced to Pakistan. On 26 October 2019, in an interview for '' The National'', Shabber denied any involvement with corruption and announced his retirement from cricket, citing the poor remuneration for playing. He said that "if there is something with regards to anti-corruption, I am ready to cooperate in Pakistan. But I have decided cricket is not in my future". Following the conclusion of the group stage, the ICC's Event Technical Committee approved two replacements in the UAE's squad.

Faizan Asif Faizan Asif (born 21 December 1992) is a Pakistani-born cricketer who played for the United Arab Emirates national cricket team. He made his Twenty20 International debut for the United Arab Emirates against the Netherlands on 17 March 2014. In O ...

replaced Ashfaq Ahmed and Vriitya Aravind was named as Ghulam Shabber's replacement. On 30 October 2019, the

Emirates Cricket Board Emirates Cricket Board is the governing body of certain cricket activities in United Arab Emirates. It is United Arab Emirates's representative at the International Cricket Council and is an Associate Member and has been a Member of that body sin ...

(ECB) confirmed that they had suspended Shabber for absconding, and that he was part of the ICC's anti-corruption investigation. In March 2021, Mohammad Naveed and Shaiman Anwar were both found guilty of corruption, with each player given an eight-year ban from all cricket, backdated to 16 October 2019. In July 2021, the ICC also handed eight-year bans to

Amir Hayat Amir Hayat (born 28 August 1982) is a Pakistani-born cricketer who played for the United Arab Emirates national cricket team. He made his first-class debut for the United Arab Emirates against Afghanistan in the 2015–17 ICC Intercontinental C ...

and Ashfaq Ahmed for violating the anti-corruption code. Their bans were both backdated to 13 September 2020. In September 2021, the ICC also issued a four-year ban to Ghulam Shabber, following the conclusion of their anti-corruption investigation.

Other changes

In September 2019, ahead of the

2019–20 Oman Pentangular Series The 2019–20 Oman Pentangular Series was a Twenty20 International (T20I) cricket tournament, that was held in Oman in October 2019. Originally scheduled to be played between four teams, it was increased to five. The series was played by Hong Ko ...

, Hong Kong's

Babar Hayat Babar Hayat (born 5 January 1992) is a Pakistani-born Hong Kong cricketer, who plays for the Hong Kong cricket team. He is a right-handed batsman and a former captain of the national team. International career Babar made his T20I cricket comple ...

declared that he was no longer available to play for Hong Kong. Brothers Tanveer Ahmed and

Ehsan Nawaz Ehsan Nawaz (; (born 21 March 1995) is a Hong Kong cricketer. He played for Hong Kong in the 2014 ICC World Twenty20 tournament. He made his One Day International debut against Afghanistan in the 2014 ACC Premier League on 1 May 2014. In August ...

also withdrew themselves for selection. Anantha Krishna was ruled out of Singapore's squad after suffering an injury in a training session. He was replaced by Aahan Gopinath Achar. On 24 October 2019, the ICC announced that the bowling actions of

Abiodun Abioye This is a list of Nigerian Twenty20 International cricketers. In April 2018, the ICC decided to grant full Twenty20 International (T20I) status to all its members. Therefore, all Twenty20 matches played between Nigeria and other ICC members after ...

(Nigeria), Tom Sole (Scotland) and

Selladore Vijayakumar Selladore Vijayakumar (born 29 July 1979) is a cricketer. He plays for Singapore national cricket team. He is a right-arm off break bowler. Vijayakumar had played for the Singapore team in the 2014 ICC World Cricket League Division Three. In t ...

(Singapore) were all found to be illegal. They were all suspended from bowling in international cricket matches until an assessment shows that their bowling action is legal. Ahead of the playoff matches,

Dylan Budge Dylan Evers Budge (born 11 September 1995) is a Scottish cricketer. He made his One Day International (ODI) debut for Scotland against England on 10 June 2018. He made his Twenty20 International (T20I) debut for Scotland against Pakistan on 12 ...

replaced

Ollie Hairs Oliver James Hairs (born 14 April 1991) is a Scottish cricketer. He has played for the Scotland national cricket team since 2010, as a left-handed batsman. Personal life Hairs was born on 14 April 1991 in Redhill, Surrey, England. He attended Me ...

in Scotland's squad, after Hairs suffered a fracture in his foot. Ireland also made a replacement, with

Barry McCarthy Barry John McCarthy (born 13 September 1992) is an Irish cricketer. He made his first-class debut in 2015, and plays for the Ireland cricket team, and previously the English side Durham. Primarily a right-arm medium pace bowler, he also bats ...

coming into their squad, replacing

David Delany David Colin Alex Delany (born 28 December 1997) is an Irish cricketer. He made his Twenty20 cricket debut for Munster Reds in the 2017 Inter-Provincial Trophy on 16 June 2017. He made his first-class debut for Leinster Lightning in the 2017 Inte ...

, who was ruled out with a knee injury.

Match officials

In October 2019, the ICC named the officials for the tournament, with G. S. Lakshmi becoming the first woman to be named as a referee at an ICC event.

Umpires

Roland Black Roland Black (born 22 July 1971) is a Northern Irish cricket umpire. He has been an umpire since 2006. His name was added to ICC Associate and Affiliate Umpires Panel in 2016. On 14 July 2016, he stood in his first One Day International (ODI) ...

Chris Brown Christopher Maurice Brown (born May 5, 1989) is an American singer, songwriter, dancer, and actor. A Pop music, pop and hip-hop-influenced contemporary R&B, R&B musician who works in a variety of genres, he has been called the "Honorific nic ...

Lyndon Hannibal Lyndon Hannibal (born 20 November 1965) is a Sri Lankan international cricket umpire and a former first class cricketer. Umpiring career He stood as an umpire in the tour match between Sri Lanka Board President's XI vs Indian national cricket t ...

Sam Nogajski Samuel J Nogajski (born 1 January 1979) is an Australian cricket umpire. He stood as an umpire in the 2016–17 Ranji Trophy in India. Career Until 2012, Nogajski was a maths teacher at The Hutchins School. In 2012, he became part of the Nat ...

Ahmed Shah Pakteen Ahmed Shah Pakteen (born 1 January 1977) is a cricket umpire from Afghanistan. He is currently a member of International Panel of ICC Umpires. Pakteen has stood in matches in the 2015–17 ICC Intercontinental Cup. On 14 January 2017 he made h ...

Allahudien Paleker Allahudien Paleker (born 1 January 1978) is a South African cricket umpire and former cricketer of Marathi people, Maharashtrian descent with roots tracing back to Ratnagiri district in Maharashtra, India. As an umpire (cricket), umpire, he has ...

Sundaram Ravi Sundaram Ravi (born 22 April 1966) is an Indian cricket umpire who was a member of the ICC Elite Panel of Umpires between 2015 and 2019. After making his Twenty20 International (T20I) umpiring debut in 2011, he officiated in over 100 internatio ...

Ahsan Raza Ahsan Raza (born 29 May 1974) is a Pakistani cricket umpire and former cricketer. In November 2020, in the second Twenty20 International (T20I) between Pakistan and Zimbabwe, he officiated in his 50th T20I match as an on-field umpire, becoming ...

Rashid Riaz Rashid Riaz (born 27 February 1976) is a Pakistani cricket umpire and former first-class cricketer. He has stood in matches in the 2015–16 Quaid-e-Azam Trophy. He officiated in his first Twenty20 International (T20I) match, between Pakistan and ...

Sharfuddoula Sharfuddoula Ibne Shahid Saikat () (born 16 October 1976), also known as Sharfuddoula Saikat, is an international cricket umpire and a former first-class player from Bangladesh. He is the first Bangladeshi umpire to be included in the Elite Pan ...

* Alex Wharf *

Raveendra Wimalasiri Raja Raveendra Wimalasiri (; born 19 August 1969) is a Sri Lankan cricket umpire and former cricketer. He stood in his first One Day International, between Sri Lanka and South Africa, on 23 July 2013 and his first Twenty20 International on 2 Aug ...

Referees

The ICC also named three match referees for the tournament. *

Jeff Crowe Jeffrey John Crowe (born 14 September 1958) is a former New Zealand cricketer. He played Test and One Day International cricket for New Zealand from 1983 to 1990, and first-class cricket for South Australia and then Auckland. He has been an IC ...

* G. S. Lakshmi *

Gerrie Pienaar Gerrie Pienaar (born 28 April 1959) is a South African cricket umpire. He has stood in matches in the 2016–17 Sunfoil 3-Day Cup and the 2016–17 CSA Provincial One-Day Challenge tournaments. In October 2019, he was selected as one of three ma ...

Warm-up matches

Ahead of the main tournament, each team played two warm-up matches. ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ----

Group stage

Group A

---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ----

Group B

---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ----

Playoffs

Bracket

Qualifier 1

Qualifier 2

Qualifier 3

Qualifier 4

5th Place Playoff

Semifinal 1

Semifinal 2

3rd Place Playoff

Final

Final standings

These were the final standings following the conclusion of the tournament. The top six places were used for seeding purposes for the 2020 Men's T20 World Cup. Qualified for the

Notes

References

External links

Series home at ESPN Cricinfo
{{DEFAULTSORT:2019 ICC Men's World Twenty20 2019 in Emirati cricket Qualifier International cricket competitions in 2019–20 Men's T20 World Cup Qualifier International cricket competitions in the United Arab Emirates ICC ICC