Ireland v Netherlands – Irish close in on 2010 ICC World Twenty20 Championships

February 13th, 2010 / Lee A Jackson

While England gear up for the two Twenty20 matches against Pakistan on February 19th and 20th, there has been some fascinating cricket going on in the ICC World Twenty20 Qualifiers. What is this you may ask? It is a competition for the associated cricket nations (those nations who are yet to gain Test status) to gain entry into the ICC World Twenty20 Championships in April. Eight teams started the competition, Afghanistan, Canada, Ireland, Kenya, Holland, Scotland, USA and hosts United Arab Emirates. Looking at the list of nations, it would have been easy to assume who the group winners would have been. After making their mark in the last Twenty20 World Cup by beating England, the Netherlands, in a group with Kenya, Canada and UAE, started out as favourites. Likewise in the Group A, Ireland, who beat Bangladesh in the World Cup, should have been a lot stronger than USA, Scotland and Afghanistan.

But the tournament threw up some major surprises with Afghanistan winning Group A, and the United Arab Emirates winning Group B. Yes, really. Both of those nations won all of their three group games (including a fascinating tussle where Afghanistan beat the USA) to progress to the Super Four league stage, along with runners up Ireland and Netherlands. In the Super Four stage, Ireland already have one foot in the door of the final, but need a win against the Dutch on Saturday to book their place at the full tournament to be held in the West Indies. With all four teams winning one and losing one match in the Super Four, it all boils down to a semi final shoot out really, with the winner of Ireland v Holland, playing the winner of Afghanistan and the UAE. Both of those games and the final will be played on Saturday.

Super Four Final Round of Matches
Afghanistan v UAE (started at 8am GMT)
Ireland v Netherlands (12:00 GMT)
Final (4pm GMT)

The top two teams in the Super Four stage will play a Final for the honours of winning the tournament, but both teams will qualify for the 2010 ICC World Twenty20 Championships which are being held in the West Indies at the end of April. The winner of the Qualifier tournament, will go into a three-team group in the 2010 ICC World Twenty20 Championship, along with South Africa and India, and the Runner-Up of the Qualifier tournament will go into Group D, which includes hosts West Indies and England.

Super Four Match Price:
Ireland to win: 4/7 at Paddy Power
Netherlands to win: 5/4 at Paddy Power

Groups for 2010 ICC World Twenty20 Championships
Group A: Pakistan, Bangladesh, Australia
Group B: Sri Lanka, New Zealand, Zimbabwe
Group C: South Africa, India + Winner of Qualifier
Group D: West Indies, England + Runner Up of Qualifier