2018–19 ICC T20 World Cup Asia Qualifier
The 2018–19 ICC T20 World Cup Asia Qualifier was the tournament played as part of qualification process for the 2021 ICC T20 World Cup.
Twelve regional qualifiers were held by the International Cricket Council (ICC), with 62 teams competed during 2018 in five regions – Africa (3 groups), Americas (2), Asia (2), East Asia Pacific (2) and Europe (3). The top 25 sides from these progressed to five Regional Finals in 2019, with seven teams then going on to compete in the 2019 ICC T20 World Cup Qualifier.,[1][n 1] along with the six lowest ranked sides from the ICC T20I Championship.[1]
The first Asian sub-regional qualifier was held in Kuwait from 20 to 27 April 2018.[2] The second sub-regional qualifier took place in Malaysia between 3 and 12 October 2018.[3] The top three teams in each group advanced to the regional finals tournament, which will determine two Asian entrants to the 2019 ICC T20 World Cup Qualifier. In April 2018, the International Cricket Council (ICC) granted full international status to Twenty20 men's matches played between member sides from 1 January 2019 onwards. Therefore, all the matches in the Regional Finals will be played as Twenty20 Internationals (T20Is).[4]
From the Western sub-region group, the United Arab Emirates were the first team to qualify for the regional final.[5] They were joined by Qatar and Kuwait.[6][7] From the Eastern sub-region group, Nepal, Singapore and Malaysia qualified for the regional final.[8][9] However, in March 2019, the ICC announced that the UAE would host the qualifier tournament.[10] Later the same month, the ICC released the match schedule for all the Regional Finals, with the UAE omitted from the Asia Regional Final.[11] The number of teams that could qualify from the Asia Regional Final was also reduced from two to one.[11]
The Regional Finals were held in Singapore in July 2019.[11] Singapore progressed to the T20 World Cup Qualifier after winning the Regional Finals.[12]
Western sub-region tournament
| Dates | 20 – 26 April 2018 |
|---|---|
| Administrator(s) | Asian Cricket Council |
| Cricket format | T20 |
| Tournament format(s) | Round-robin and Playoffs |
| Host(s) |  Kuwait |
| Champions |  United Arab Emirates |
| Participants | 6 |
| Most runs | Rohan Mustafa (165) |
| Most wickets |  Imran Arif (12) |
Points table
| Team | Pld | W | L | T | NR | Pts | NRR | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| United Arab Emirates (Q)[n 1] | 5 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 10 | +2.433 | Advance to Sub-Regional Final and 2019 ICC World Twenty20 Asian Regional Finals |
 Qatar (Q) | 5 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 8 | +0.968 | |
| Saudi Arabia | 5 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 6 | +0.817 | Advance to Sub-Regional third-place play-off |
| Kuwait (H,Q) | 5 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 4 | –0.512 | |
 Bahrain | 5 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 2 | –1.308 | |
 Maldives | 5 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | –2.297 | |
(H) Host. (Q) Advanced to the Regional Finals. Kuwait advanced to the Regional Finals after defeating Saudi Arabia in the third-place play-off match
Fixtures
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Mohammed Asghar 66* (38) Mohamed Saafee 2/26 (4 overs) |
Mohamed Azzam 13 (27) Imran Ali 5/2 (2.4 overs) |
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- Qatar won the toss and elected to bat.
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Imran Anwar 24 (24) Khawar Abbas 4/17 (3.5 overs) |
Abdul Waheed 35 (16) Sikder Billah 1/6 (2 overs) |
- Bahrain won the toss and elected to bat.
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- Qatar won the toss and elected to bat.
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Nilantha Cooray 65 (51) Zeeshan Abbas 1/18 (4 overs) |
Shahbaz Badar 56 (43) Ibrahim Rizan 1/13 (2 overs) |
- Bahrain won the toss and elected to field.
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Inayat Saeed 21 (31) Imran Haider 3/6 (4 overs) |
Ashfaq Ahmed 46* (41) Shahbaz Rasheed 1/14 (1.4 overs) |
- Saudi Arabia won the toss and elected to bat.
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Muhammad Usman 52 (33) Sikder Billah 3/27 (3 overs) |
Yasser Nazir 26 (42) Qadeer Ahmed 4/17 (4 overs) |
- Bahrain won the toss and elected to field.
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Ali Zaheer 27 (36) Usman Ali 5/23 (4 overs) |
Imran Arif 28 (30) Muhammad Kashif 2/15 (3 overs) |
- Saudi Arabia won the toss and elected to field.
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Muhammad Usman 43 (52) Azyan Farhath 2/15 (4 overs) |
Hassan Rasheed 17 (23) Rohan Mustafa 3/18 (4 overs) |
- United Arab Emirates won the toss and elected to bat.
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Shahbaz Rasheed 36 (32) Nouman Sarwar 2/21 (2 overs) |
Tamoor Sajjad 35 (27) Imran Arif 3/33 (4 overs) |
- Qatar won the toss and elected to field.
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Ravija Sandaruwan 34* (9) Imran Anwar 2/31 (4 overs) |
Prashant Kurup 43 (42) Arjun Makesh 4/21 (4 overs) |
- Kuwait won the toss and elected to bat.
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- Kuwait won the toss and elected to field.
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Bilal Mansoor 20* (5) Awais Malik 3/23 (4 overs) |
Zaheer Ibrahim 43* (37) Waseeq Ahmed 1/17 (4 overs) |
- Qatar won the toss and elected to field.
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Shahbaz Rasheed 38* (21) Nilantha Cooray 2/21 (4 overs) |
Nilantha Cooray 47 (42) Mohammed Afzal 3/18 (4 overs) |
- Saudi Arabia won the toss and elected to bat.
Third-place play-off
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Muhammad Kashif 26 (19) Mohammed Afzal 3/22 (4 overs) |
Imran Arif 40 (35) Arjun Makesh 2/11 (3 overs) |
- Kuwait won the toss and elected to bat.
- The match was reduced to 18 overs per side.
Final
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- Qatar won the toss and elected to bat.
Eastern sub-region tournament
| Dates | 3 – 12 October 2018 |
|---|---|
| Administrator(s) | Asian Cricket Council |
| Cricket format | T20 |
| Tournament format(s) | Round-robin |
| Host(s) |  Malaysia |
| Champions |  Nepal |
| Participants | 7 |
| Matches played | 21 |
| Player of the series | Sandeep Lamichhane |
| Most runs |  Surendran Chandramohan (148) |
| Most wickets | Sandeep Lamichhane (24) |
Points table
| Team | Pld | W | L | T | NR | Pts | NRR | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nepal (Q) |
6 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 11 | +7.782 | Advance to 2019 ICC World Twenty20 Asian Regional Finals |
| Singapore (Q) |
6 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 11 | +4.772 | |
| Malaysia (H,Q) | 6 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 7 | +1.066 | |
 Thailand | 6 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 7 | –0.586 | |
 Bhutan | 6 | 2 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 4 | –1.761 | |
 Myanmar | 6 | 1 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 2 | –2.462 | |
 China | 6 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | –8.354 | |
(H) Host (Q) Qualified
Unlike Western sub-region tournament, there were no play-offs to determine the top three positions. Instead, the standings from the league was considered.
Fixtures
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Suhan Alagaratnam 35 (27) Sanjeevan Gurung 3/26 (3 overs) |
Jigme Singye 21 (21) Anwar Rahman 4/8 (4 overs) |
- Bhutan won the toss and elected to field.
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Wang Ya 8 (11) Daniel Jacobs 3/8 (4 overs) |
Daniel Jacobs 19* (8) |
- China won the toss and elected to bat.
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Chen Jinfeng 5 (11) Jigme Singye 3/7 (2.5 overs) |
Jigme Singye 30* (15) Wang Ya 1/10 (0.5 overs) |
- China won the toss and elected to bat.
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- Malaysia won the toss and elected to bat.
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Wang Ya 5 (19) Manpreet Singh 3/1 (2 overs) |
Chaminda Ruwan 16* (6) |
- Singapore won the toss and elected to field.
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Tandin Wangchuk 25 (36) Nopphon Senamontree 3/18 (4 overs) |
Nicholas Janes 36* (41) Ramesh Limbu 1/8 (2 overs) |
- Thailand won the toss and elected to field.
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- Singapore won the toss and elected to bat.
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Tian Sen Qun 10 (12) Htet Lin Aung 4/11 (4 overs) |
Ko Ko Lin Thu 18 (19) Qingshan Tan 1/12 (1.5 overs) |
- Myanmar won the toss and elected to field.
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Wanchana Uisuk 7 (12) Sandeep Lamichhane 5/8 (3 overs) |
- Thailand won the toss and elected to field.
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Ye Ko Ko Aung 3 (12) Pavandeep Singh 5/1 (4 overs) |
- Malaysia won the toss and elected to field.
- Malaysia were set a target of 6 runs from 8 overs due to rain.
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Hong Jiang Yan 11 (27) Sandeep Lamichhane 3/4 (4 overs) |
Binod Bhandari 24*(8) |
- Nepal won the toss and elected to field.
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Surendran Chandramohan 80 (50) Tobden Singye 4/23 (4 overs) |
Thinley Jamtsho 18 (31) Manpreet Singh 4/15 (4 overs) |
- Bhutan won the toss and elected to field.
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Chanchai Pengkumta 50 (41) Khin Aye 2/33 (4 overs) |
Khin Aye 10 (35) Nopphon Senamontree 1/7 (1.4 overs) |
- Myanmar won the toss and elected to field.
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Kumar Subba 45 (59) Ko Ko Lin Thu 3/13 (4 overs) |
Ko Ko Lin Thu 17 (24) Jigme Singye 3/6 (3 overs) |
- Myanmar won the toss and elected to field.
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Chen Jinfeng 21 (27) Sivanantha Krishnan 3/0 (1 over) |
Shafiq Sharif 19* (9) |
- Malaysia won the toss and elected to field.
- The match was reduced to 11 overs per side due to rain.
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Shoaib Razzak 1/1 (0.3 overs) |
- Nepal won the toss and elected to field.
Regional Finals
| Dates | 22 – 28 July 2019 |
|---|---|
| Administrator(s) | Asian Cricket Council |
| Cricket format | Twenty20 International |
| Tournament format(s) | Round-robin |
| Host(s) | Singapore |
| Champions | Singapore |
| Participants | 5 |
| Matches played | 10 |
| Player of the series | Muhammad Kashif |
| Most runs | Muhammad Kashif (143) |
| Most wickets | Iqbal Hussain (12) |
The Regional Finals were held in Singapore from 22 to 28 July 2019.[16][17] The last match of the Finals, between Nepal and tournament hosts Singapore, saw the winner of the fixture, Singapore, qualify for the 2019 ICC T20 World Cup Qualifier.[18][19] Kuwait's Muhammad Kashif was named the Player of the Series, after scoring 143 runs during the Finals.[20]
| Qualified Teams | |
|---|---|
| Western sub-region | Qatar[6] |
| Kuwait[7] | |
| Eastern sub-region | Nepal[8] |
| Singapore[8] | |
| Malaysia[9] | |
Points table
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | L | T | NR | Pts | NRR | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Singapore (H) |
4 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 7 | 2.969 | Qualified to 2019 ICC T20 World Cup Qualifier |
| 2 | Qatar |
4 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 4 | −0.378 | |
| 3 | Nepal |
4 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 4 | −0.682 | |
| 4 | Kuwait |
4 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 3 | −1.179 | |
| 5 | Malaysia |
4 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 2 | −0.390 |
Fixtures
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- Singapore won the toss and elected to bat.
- Vinoth Baskaran, Surendran Chandramohan, Tim David, Anantha Krishna, Amjad Mahboob, Anish Paraam, Janak Prakash, Rohan Rangarajan, Manpreet Singh, Chetan Suryawanshi and Selladore Vijayakumar (Sin) all made their T20I debuts.
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- Nepal won the toss and elected to bat.
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- Nepal won the toss and elected to field.
- The match was reduced to 9 overs per side due to rain.
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- Qatar won the toss and elected to field.
v |
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- Malaysia won the toss and elected to bat.
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- Nepal won the toss and elected to field.
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- Malaysia won the toss and elected to bat.
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- Singapore won the toss and elected to bat.
Notes
- The United Arab Emirates initially qualified to the Asia Regional Final, but later automatically progressed to the qualifier tournament as the host.
References
- "The journey to the men's ICC World T20 Australia 2020 set to begin in Argentina". International Cricket Council. Retrieved 27 February 2016.
- "ICC World Twenty20 Asia Qualifier 'A' begins in Kuwait". International Cricket Council. Retrieved 20 April 2018.
- "Exciting battle on the cards in the ICC World T20 Asia Qualifier B in Malaysia". International Cricket Council. Retrieved 2 October 2018.
- "All T20I matches to get international status". International Cricket Council. Retrieved 26 April 2018.
- "UAE qualify while Qatar, Kuwait and Saudi strengthen grip on playoff spots". International Cricket Council. Retrieved 25 April 2018.
- "UAE and Qatar advance to the ICC World Twenty20 Asia Finals". International Cricket Council. Retrieved 27 April 2018.
- "UAE, Qatar and Kuwait qualify for the ICC World Twenty20 Asia Finals". International Cricket Council. Retrieved 27 April 2018.
- "Nepal and Singapore advance to next round of ICC World T20 qualifiers". International Cricket Council. Retrieved 9 October 2018.
- "Nepal become champion of ICC World Twenty20 Asia Qualifier 'B' tournament". The Kathmandu Post. Retrieved 12 October 2018.
- "ICC Board meetings conclude in Dubai". International Cricket Council. 2 March 2019. Retrieved 2 March 2019.
- "One ICC Men's T20 World Cup Qualifier spot up for grabs in EAP final". International Cricket Council. Retrieved 19 March 2019.
- "Nepal bowled out for 82 by Singapore, out of global qualifiers race". The Himalayan Times. Retrieved 28 July 2019.
- "Asian Eastern Regional World Cup Qualifiers from Aug 26". My Republica. Retrieved 2 April 2018.
- "The road to the men's ICC World T20 Australia 2020 heads to Kuwait as regional qualification groups are confirmed". International Cricket Council. Retrieved 20 April 2018.
- "Kuwait, UAE, Saudi register wins on opening day of ICC World Twenty20 Asia Qualifier 'A'". International Cricket Council. Retrieved 21 April 2018.
- "Five teams set for Singapore showdown to move one step closer to T20 World Cup". International Cricket Council. Retrieved 21 July 2019.
- "Preview: ICC T20 World Cup Asia Final in Singapore". Emerging Cricket. Retrieved 21 July 2019.
- "Nepal beat Kuwait at Asian qualifier for ICC Men's T20 World Cup". Inside the Games. Retrieved 27 July 2019.
- "Singapore scale their Everest to secure spot at T20 World Cup Global Qualifier". International Cricket Council. Retrieved 28 July 2019.
- "Singapore sling Nepal out of Asia Finals and book spot in global qualifier". Emerging Cricket. Retrieved 28 July 2019.
- "ICC Men's T20 World Cup Asia Region Final 2019". ESPN Cricinfo. Retrieved 26 July 2019.