The schedule for the third ACC Twenty20 Cup has been released. The tournament takes place in Nepal from December 1 to 11. The three top teams, along with Afghanistan who have prequalified by virtue of their ODI status, will move forward to the ICC World Twenty20 Qualifier in the UAE in March 2012, from which the top two will play in the ICC World Twenty20 in Sri Lanka. The ACC teams taking part are those who will also be in the ACC Trophy Elite next year.
“It’s a long process to get to the World Cup,” says ACC Events Manager Sultan Rana, “and it’s fair to say that the teams who most deserve to get there will do so.” In 2010 Afghanistan and UAE (finalists in the ACC Twenty Cup 2009) made it to the Qualifier in Dubai, from where Afghanistan and Ireland made it to the World T20 in the West Indies. The ICC have widened the net for T20 qualifiers which means that four ACC teams will be in the mix for the World T20 next year.
Nepal’s conditions will be challenging, undoubtedly the home side will be favoured and in the end the teams that have best prepared for the tournament in December, where wickets can be expected to be slow and low and turning will be in the final reckoning. In a schedule that means the teams will be playing six high-intensity matches in nine days, fitness will be also be at a premium and the teams that are the best physically conditioned are most likely to prevail.
Nepal will be playing all their group matches at Tribhuvan University which has the capacity to hold what is expected to be crowds in the region of 10,000.
About ACC T20 Cup and fixtures
| Venues | : | Engineering Ground, Pulchowk Tribhuvan University Ground, Kirtipur |
| Dates | : | 3rd – 11th December |
| The tournament forms part
of the qualifying process for ICC World Twenty20 2012 in September in
Sri Lanka. The top three teams, other than Afghanistan, from this
competition join the top six Associate and Affiliate teams with ODI
status from 2009-2012 namely Afghanistan, Canada, Ireland, Kenya,
Netherlands and Scotland in the 16-team ICC World Twenty20 Qualifier
to be played in the UAE in March 2012. The other regional teams in the
qualifier will be Europe (2), Africa (2), Americas (2) and East Asia –
Pacific (1). |
||
| GROUP A | GROUP B | |
| Afghanistan | Nepal | |
| Hong Kong | Malaysia | |
| Oman | United Arab Emirates | |
| Kuwait | Bhutan | |
| Maldives | Saudi Arabia | |
| Schedule: | |
| Matches start at 9.30 AM and 1 PM (0345 hrs GMT and 0715 hrs GMT) |
|
| Sat, Dec 3 | Afghanistan v Hong Kong at Engineering Ground Kuwait v Oman at Engineering Ground Nepal v Malaysia at Tribhuvan University Bhutan v UAE at Tribhuvan University |
| Sun, Dec 4 | Kuwait v Maldives at Engineering Ground Bhutan v Saudi Arabia at Engineering Ground Afghanistan v Oman at Tribhuvan University Nepal v UAE at Tribhuvan University |
| Mon, Dec 5 | Malaysia v Saudi Arabia at Engineering Ground* Hong Kong v Maldives at Tribhuvan University* |
| Tue, Dec 6 | Hong Kong v Oman at Engineering Ground Afghanistan v Kuwait at Engineering Ground Nepal v Bhutan at Tribhuvan University Malaysia v UAE at Tribhuvan University |
| Wed, Dec 7 | Afghanistan v Maldives at Engineering Ground Bhutan v Malaysia at Engineering Ground Nepal v Saudi Arabia at Tribhuvan University Hong Kong v Kuwait at Tribhuvan University |
| Thu, Dec 8 | Maldives v Oman at Engineering Ground* Saudi Arabia v UAE at Tribhuvan University* |
| Fri, Dec 9 | SF1: A1 v B2 at Tribhuvan University SF2: A2 v B1 at Tribhuvan University 5th/6th Playoff A3 v B3 at Engineering Ground 7th/8th Playoff A4 v B4 at Engineering Ground |
| Sat, Dec 10 | 9th/10th Playoff A5 v B5 at Engineering Ground 3rd/4th Playoff at Engineering Ground |
| Sun, Dec 11 | FINAL at Tribhuvan University** |
| *9.30 AM ** 1 PM | |
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