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Mehluli Sibanda in BULAWAYO
THE International Cricket Council Cricket World Cup Qualifier Group B clash between Zimbabwe and Scotland on Monday, which had been scheduled for Bulawayo Athletic Club, has been moved to the much bigger Queens Sports Club on the same day.

The ICC yesterday announced that venues for matches on that day have been swapped with Hong Kong to take on Nepal at BAC.

The venue change was necessitated by an overwhelming response from the fans for Zimbabwe fixtures to date and the anticipated record crowd attendance for an extremely important 12 March fixture in which carryover points into the Super Six stage will be up for grabs.

Chris Tetley, ICC’s head of events, said with Zimbabwe’s matches have been well attended so far and it made sense to have their last group fixture at a venue that can accommodate more fans.

“We have seen that the Zimbabwe matches have been very well attended so far, and we felt moving their crucial last fixture against Scotland to a larger and better equipped venue was the best course of action, as the venue will provide better facilities to the spectators.

‘’We are thrilled to see matches at the event so well supported and reiterate our appreciation to all fans. ‘’Entry for all World Cup Qualifier matches is free and we encourage fans to attend the remaining matches to enjoy the top class cricket and carnival experience we have seen so far,’’ Tetley said.

A recommendation from the ICC was submitted to the Event Technical Committee to switch the last Group B fixtures, which was unanimously approved. With entry into the group matches being free, fans have packed Queens Sports Club for Zimbabwe’s two group matches, the first against Nepal last Sunday and the second when the Chevrons took on Afghanistan on Tuesday.

The fans briefly invaded the pitch in excitement when the Graeme Cremer-led Chevrons saw off Afghanistan by two runs in sensational fashion.

Scotland are top of group B with six points secured from three wins while Zimbabwe are second on the log with four picked up from the two victories. The top three teams from the group will progress to the Super Six stage.

Points secured from the bottom two teams in the group will be thrown away when the teams head into the next round which makes Zimbabwe’s clash with Scotland even more crucial for both sides.

In Group B matched played yesterday, Scotland defeated Nepal by four wickets at Queens Sports Club while one of the pre-tournament favourites, Afghanistan suffered their third loss of the competition when they went down by 30 runs to Hong Kong through the Duckworth/Lewis method in a rain-interrupted match at BAC.

Zimbabwe face Hong Kong at Queens Sports Club tomorrow while Afghanistan play their last group match on the same day against Nepal at BAC.