Doha: Hosts Qatar will take on Thailand in the opening match as the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup Asia Sub Regional Qualifier B begins at the refurbished West End Park International Cricket Stadium in Doha today.
In other match on the first day, Bhutan will meet United Arab Emirates at the UDST Cricket Ground while Bahrain will play Saudi Arabia at the West End Park International Cricket Stadium.
The event, which is featuring a total of seven teams – Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Bhutan, Bahrain, Thailand, UAE and Cambodia – will see three matches being played each day from November 19-28.
Captains of Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Bhutan, Bahrain, Thailand, UAE and Cambodia pose for a group photo during the launch event yesterday.
A total of 21 games will be played during ICC Men’s T20 World Cup Asia Sub-regional Qualifier B. This tournament will serve as a qualification scenario for the teams participating in the event. The teams that finish in the top 2 after all of the matches will qualify for the Regional Final, where they will be joined by Nepal, Oman and Papua New Guinea.
At the event launch press conference yesterday, Qatar Cricket Association’s Secretary-General Khalid Saleh Al Rumaihi welcomed the teams, officials and the media. “We are looking forward to exciting cricket from players of the seven teams over the next ten days.
“We know that all the seven teams are eager to qualify for the Regional Final and we wish all of them the very best.”
Qatar Cricket Association’s CEO Khaled Al Suwaidi was also present on the occasion and said, “We have all preparations in place with recently-laid seven pitches and international standard grounds which will surely be liked by all participants.
“We also for the first time have teams from Bhutan and Cambodia in the tournament, who will also be playing against Qatar for the first time. The Qatar fans would be eager to see their contests as well.”
Of all the teams, UAE, Bahrain and hosts Qatar have the strongest chance to finish in the top 2 of the competition. However, the other teams are also spirited enough to pose a healthy challenge to the opposition teams in ICC Men’s T20 World Cup Asia Sub-regional Qualifier B.
