ICC announces details of sixth round fixtures of Pepsi ICC World Cricket League Championship

The International Cricket Council (ICC) has announced the dates for the sixth round fixtures of the Pepsi ICC World Cricket League (WCL) Championship, a qualifying tournament for the ICC Cricket World Cup 2015, which will be staged in Australia and New Zealand.

The WCL Championship is an eight-team competition for the leading Associate and Affiliate sides, and the top two sides from the tournament will qualify automatically for the ICC Cricket World Cup 2015. The final two positions in the ICC’s flagship event will then be determined at the ICC Cricket World Cup Qualifier, which will be staged in New Zealand in 2014.

According to the sixth round schedule, the Netherlands will host Ireland in Amsterdam on 7 and 9 July, Scotland will play Kenya in Aberdeen on 30 June and 2 July, Toronto will play host to the Canada and United Arab Emirates (UAE) matches on 6 and 8 August, and Afghanistan will be in Windhoek for its two 50-over matches against Namibia on 9 and 11 August.

Although only seven points separate the top six sides, the feature match of the penultimate round will be between table-topper Ireland and second-placed Netherlands, an encounter that could see Ireland become the first side from the tournament to qualify for the ICC Cricket World Cup 2015.

Ireland leads the Netherlands by three points, and, if Ireland wins both ODIs in the top of the table clash, it will qualify for the ICC’s flagship event regardless of the remaining results of the tournament, while a 2-0 loss could see the Dutch tumble up to three positions to fifth if UAE, Afghanistan and Scotland or Kenya win their encounters 2-0.