The final two qualifying berths in the men’s T20 World Cup have been snapped by Zimbabwe and the Netherlands, as both teams rampaged through T20 World Cup Qualifier tournament undefeated to earn a plane ticket to Australia later in October.
Both sides secured comfortable victories in their semi-final clashes in the ICC men’s T20 World Cup Qualifier, although for Zimbabwe there was a slight scare when PNG’s Tony Ura dared to dream with this 66 off 35 balls bringing his side within 30 runs of securing an improbable victory.
The semi-final win for Zimbabwe meant that this will be their sixth appearance at the men’s Twenty20 World Cup, with their captain Craig Ervine glowing with praise for the way his team held their nerve against a believing PNG.
"I'm ecstatic for the country, I think this is huge for Zimbabwe cricket and the next step is going to be on Sunday, winning the Qualifier,” Ervine said.
“We look forward to the World Cup in October."
Meanwhile the Netherlands played in cruise control in their semi-final clash against a spirited United States, with Bas de Leede’s belligerent 91 off 67 balls ensuring the Dutch chased the required 139 runs for victory with minimal damage.
The Netherlands’ victory meant that this will be their fourth appearance at the men’s Twenty20 World Cup, a testament to their growing influence and improvement in cricket’s shortest white-ball format.
Dutch captain Scott Edwards was happy yet contemplative of his side’s comfortable victory against America, and noted that the journey was not yet over as he discussed how important it was to defeat Zimbabwe in the T20 World Cup Qualifier final.
"Zimbabwe are obviously a very strong side, we've watched them throughout the tournament and they are playing some good cricket,” he said.
“I think it will be a good game and hopefully we can get one up on them."
The winner of the men’s T20 World Cup Qualifier final will join the West Indies, Scotland and Ireland in Group B whilst the runner-up will join Sri Lanka, Namibia and UAE to determine the final places for the first round of the tournament.
The ICC men’s 2022 Twenty20 World Cup tournament will be played in Australia later in the year and will run from October 16th to November 13th.
