Harare, Jun 25, 2022, IANS

Harare, June 25 (IANS) Zimbabwe is all set to host the ICC Men's T20 World Cup Qualifier B between July 11 and 17, which will see eight teams in the race for the final two ICC Men's T20 World Cup 2022 berths in Australia later this year.

Apart from the hosts themselves, Jersey, Hong Kong, Netherlands, Papua New Guinea (PNG), Singapore, Uganda and USA will be part of the last leg of the T20 World Cup race.

Singapore and Zimbabwe booked their Qualifier B spots based on their rankings in the ICC Men's T20I Team Rankings, while Netherlands and PNG made it following their finishing position in Round 1 of the T20 World Cup last year in Oman and UAE.

Hong Kong, Jersey, Uganda and USA fought off competition in their respective regional qualifiers to make it to Qualifier B, according to ICC.

Qualifier B will feature 20 matches, including the playoffs and the final. The two finalists will qualify for Round 1 of the T20 World Cup, with the winner going into Group B alongside Ireland, Scotland and the West Indies, while the runners-up will join Namibia, Sri Lanka and the United Arab Emirates in Group A.

The Queens Sports Club and the Bulawayo Athletic Club will be the two venues where the fate of the eight teams will be decided.

Hosts Zimbabwe will face Singapore in the opening fixture on July 11.

Speaking about the fixture announcement, ICC head of events, Chris Tetley said, "This is the final step in the qualification pathway for the remaining two World Cup spots and we are looking forward to competitive and hard-fought cricket, with a chance for all teams to compete for the ultimate prize in T20 cricket up for grabs."

Fixture list:

July 11: Zimbabwe v Singapore; Jersey v USA; Netherlands v PNG; Hong Kong v Uganda.

July 12: Zimbabwe v Jersey; Singapore v USA; Netherlands v Hong Kong; PNG v Uganda.

July 14: Netherlands v Uganda; PNG v Hong Kong; Zimbabwe v USA; Singapore v Jersey.

July 15: Semifinals.

July 17: Final.