Nepal and UAE begin 8-nation League 2 series, which is the basis for 2027 ODI World Cup qualification
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Nepal will start an important series of the Cricket World Cup League 2 by playing against the UAE on Saturday at the Tribhuvan University International Cricket Stadium in Kirtipur. Nepal and the UAE are at the bottom two places in the League 2 table, which includes eight nations and is the basis for the 2027 ODI World Cup qualifiers.
Both have managed to collect only 12 and 10 points respectively after playing 20 matches. The top four teams in League 2 automatically qualify for the World Cup qualifiers, while the bottom four teams will have to play a play-off. Nepal and the UAE, who played the Twenty20 World Cup in India two months ago, have not been able to show a corresponding performance in the 50-over format of cricket.
This has put both teams' One-Day International credentials in jeopardy. In the last League 2 series played in the UAE, Nepal lost 4 matches to the UAE and the USA. This was the first time that Nepal lost all four matches in a single League 2 series. But in 2023, when UAE came to Kathmandu for League 2, Nepal won both matches.
The third team in this series is Oman. Oman is in third place in the League 2 table with 29 points from 24 matches. This same Oman was defeated by Nepal 'A' by 115 runs in Mulpani on Friday. The last time they came to Kathmandu, Oman had 'clean swept' the League 2 series against Nepal and the United States. But Nepal had won 11 out of the last 12 matches and directly qualified for the World Cup qualifiers. During that time, Nepal had won all 8 matches in the series against Scotland and Namibia and UAE and Papua New Guinea, becoming the top three teams in League 2 and directly qualified for the World Cup qualifiers.
UAE has already come to Kathmandu and played two Twenty20 Internationals against Nepal. UAE coach Lalchand Rajput had stated that the Twenty20 series would play an important role in getting used to the conditions here before the League 2 series.
Nepal will play another League 2 series against the USA and Scotland after playing against the UAE and Oman.
