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Eddie Chikamhi

Senior Sports Reporter

BULAWAYO is set to be a hive of activity this week when hosts Zimbabwe and seven other contesting nations take to the stage in the qualifying tournament for the 2022 ICC World Cup finals.

The ICC T20 World Cup Qualifier is set to be officially opened by President Mnangagwa at Queens Sports Club in Bulawayo tomorrow, with the first matches getting underway on Monday.

Hosts Zimbabwe, being the top ranked nation, are the favourites in the upcoming event and have been placed in Group A along with USA, Singapore and Jersey. Group B comprises Hong Kong, Netherlands, Papua New Guinea and Uganda.

The Chevrons will kick off their campaign against Singapore on Monday, followed by a clash with Jersey the next day and then end their group matches against USA on July 14.

The top two teams from the group will advance to the semi-finals, set for July 15. Then the two teams that make it to the final will qualify for the ICC T20 World Cup finals to be held in Australia between October and November this year.

Zimbabwe seamer Blessing Muzarabani believes his side are ready to remake their mark on the world stage but knows tough games lie ahead in ICC Men’s T20 World Cup Global Qualifier B.

“It’s going to be a good opportunity to go out there and play. We just need to win the game, that’s the first thing, and hopefully we will play well. We are going to make the crowd happy and our families happy. That’s our aim. We want to make our families proud, we want to make the supporters proud.

“I’d love to have that opportunity to play at the main World Cup because I’ve never been there. I’m sure a lot of guys are looking forward to that. We’re going to give it our best so we get that opportunity to experience playing the World Cup. Hopefully it’s going to bring happiness to our supporters.”

A competitive field, Qualifier B looks a tricky proposition.

USA, who are ranked 26th and last among the lost at the Qualifier, are looking to cause upsets in Zimbabwe. Their vice-captain Aaron Jones said he was cherishing the opportunity for a World Cup berth.

“It would definitely be a dream come true, I mean, the World Cup is the highest stage. I don’t think you can get any bigger than a World Cup as a professional cricketer. 

“So I definitely want to play in the next World Cup for sure, as long as we get through these qualifiers, it’s going to be a dream come true,” said Jones. 

Here are what the other participants said ahead of the event:

Max O’Dowd (Netherlands)

“We’ve got a lot of young guys for whom it would be their first World Cup if we were to qualify and it would be an amazing experience. 

“We’ve had some amazing experiences over the last couple of months, playing against England and the West Indies, but a World Cup would be the top of their list. There are exciting times ahead, and we just hope we can pull it off because it’s going to be very tough.” 

Nizakat Khan (Hong Kong)

 “Our team is looking very good. We have more experience now in our team compared to our last World Cup qualifiers.  We are much more balanced this time, and we have a good combination of our spinners and fast bowlers. 

“We are just going to take it game by game. Every game is important so we need to make sure that we win every single game and execute our plan. We cannot be relaxed in any game, we need to make sure we are up for game one. 

“We are really looking forward to it because it’s a great opportunity and we have a great chance to qualify for the World Cup.  

“We have a very experienced team now and we can use our experience in the games. We need to make sure we focus on our game, win the games, and try to qualify for the World Cup. We just can’t wait to go out against Uganda in the first game in Zimbabwe.” 

Deusdedit Muhumuza (Uganda)

“I want to see Uganda play at the World Cup. It has been my dream ever since I began playing cricket. I want Uganda to get this feeling of what happens at the biggest stage of cricket. 

“And that’s what I’ll be looking at even then as a leader, I want to see us walk out as the most agile, the most disciplined, the most fighting team that they have seen at the tournament.@ 

Assad Vala (Papua New Guinea)

“We know from experience how special it is to qualify for a World Cup. It was a dream come true. Having played for so many years and tried to get to a World Cup, to make it playing good cricket as we did was fantastic. 

“We enjoyed the experience of playing in the big stadiums and we want to experience that atmosphere again. There was a lot of interest when the World Cup was on, not just in the cricket fraternity – everyone in Papua New Guinea was behind us.”

Amjad Mahboob (Singapore)

 “We have worked very hard since the last time we played in the CWC qualifiers. We know the areas we need to improve and I’m very confident we’ll be better than last time.

“Preparations have been excellent. We’ve played against PNG and Malaysia as well as a good team from Pakistan, who have provided a very good test. Overall, we are very satisfied and we are looking forward to getting to Zimbabwe.”