[caption id="attachment_567521" align="aligncenter" width="628"]<a href="https://www.cricketcountry.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/axdf.jpg"><img class="size-full wp-image-567521" alt="Asghar Stanikzai led Afghanistan are favorites to win the series Getty Images" src="https://www.cricketcountry.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/axdf.jpg" width="628" height="355" /></a> Asghar Stanikzai led Afghanistan are favorites to win the series Getty Images[/caption] <p></p> <p></p>The year 2017 has started on a positive note for all the lower rung teams as International Cricket Council took the initiative of introducing the <a href="https://www.cricketcountry.com/series/desert-t20-2017-200468/">Dessert T20</a> competition. This competition is going to be a one-week affair which will include the 8-team. The teams to participate in this series are Afghanistan, Ireland, The Netherlands, United Arab Emirates (UAE), Hong Kong, Namibia, Oman and Scotland. And the will have two groups A and B featuring four teams each. This competition brings with itself a chance for all these teams to play competitive effort which can generate some talented cricketers from these nations. The tournament features 12 league games, played across two groups, before two semi-finals and the finals, all to be played on January 20th. <p></p> <p></p>Namibia was included in the tournament at the very last moment after Papua New Guinea (PNG) refused to take part in the tournament. The majority of the games are scheduled to be played at the Sheikh Zayed Stadium, Abu Dhabi while the last four games of the group stage and the 2 semi-finals and the final is to be played at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium, Dubai. Afghanistan, United Arab Emirates, Ireland, Namibia are in the Group A while Netherlands, Hong Kong, Scotland and Oman are included in the Group B. Each team will play three games against teams in their group, with the top two advancing to the semi-finals while the winning team gets 1 point each. <p></p> <p></p>So far, two games have been completed on Day 1 of the series which included the clash between Afghanistan and Ireland from Group A while Hong Kong took on Scotland in Group B; off which Afghanistan and Scotland emerged victorious by 5 wickets and 24 runs respectively. <p></p><table style="width: 600px;" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0"><colgroup><col width="189" /> <col width="254" /> <col width="215" /> </colgroup> <p></p><tbody> <p></p><tr> <p></p><td width="189" height="20">Date</td> <p></p><td width="254">Match Details</td> <p></p><td width="215">Time</td> <p></p></tr> <p></p><tr> <p></p><td height="60"></td> <p></p><td width="254">Hong Kong vs Scotland, Group B <p></p>Sheikh Zayed Stadium, Abu Dhabi Scotland won by 24 runs</td> <p></p><td>3.30 PM</td> <p></p></tr> <p></p><tr> <p></p><td height="20">January 14, Saturday</td> <p></p><td></td> <p></p><td></td> <p></p></tr> <p></p><tr> <p></p><td height="60"></td> <p></p><td width="254">Afghanistan vs Ireland, Group A <p></p>Sheikh Zayed Stadium, Abu Dhabi Afghanistan won by 5 wkts</td> <p></p><td>8.30 PM</td> <p></p></tr> <p></p><tr> <p></p><td height="20"></td> <p></p><td></td> <p></p><td></td> <p></p></tr> <p></p><tr> <p></p><td height="20"></td> <p></p><td></td> <p></p><td></td> <p></p></tr> <p></p><tr> <p></p><td height="60"></td> <p></p><td width="254">Netherlands vs Oman, Group B <p></p>Sheikh Zayed Stadium, Abu Dhabi <p></p>Netherlands won by 5 wkts</td> <p></p><td>3.30 PM</td> <p></p></tr> <p></p><tr> <p></p><td height="20">January 15, Sunday</td> <p></p><td></td> <p></p><td></td> <p></p></tr> <p></p><tr> <p></p><td height="80"></td> <p></p><td width="254">United Arab Emirates vs Namibia, Group A <p></p>Sheikh Zayed Stadium, Abu Dhabi <p></p>United Arab Emirates won by 6 wkts</td> <p></p><td>8.30 PM</td> <p></p></tr> <p></p><tr> <p></p><td height="20"></td> <p></p><td></td> <p></p><td></td> <p></p></tr> <p></p><tr> <p></p><td height="20"></td> <p></p><td></td> <p></p><td></td> <p></p></tr> <p></p><tr> <p></p><td height="60"></td> <p></p><td width="254">Hong Kong vs Oman, Group B <p></p>Sheikh Zayed Stadium, Abu Dhabi <p></p>Oman won by 7 wkts</td> <p></p><td>3.30 PM</td> <p></p></tr> <p></p><tr> <p></p><td height="20">January 16, Monday</td> <p></p><td></td> <p></p><td></td> <p></p></tr> <p></p><tr> <p></p><td height="60"></td> <p></p><td width="254">United Arab Emirates vs Afghanistan, Group A <p></p>Sheikh Zayed Stadium, Abu Dhabi</td> <p></p><td>8.30 PM</td> <p></p></tr> <p></p><tr> <p></p><td height="20"></td> <p></p><td></td> <p></p><td></td> <p></p></tr> <p></p><tr> <p></p><td height="20"></td> <p></p><td></td> <p></p><td></td> <p></p></tr> <p></p><tr> <p></p><td height="40"></td> <p></p><td width="254">Ireland vs Namibia, Group A <p></p>Sheikh Zayed Stadium, Abu Dhabi</td> <p></p><td>3.30 PM</td> <p></p></tr> <p></p><tr> <p></p><td height="20">January 17, Tuesday</td> <p></p><td></td> <p></p><td></td> <p></p></tr> <p></p><tr> <p></p><td height="40"></td> <p></p><td width="254">Netherlands vs Scotland, Group B <p></p>Sheikh Zayed Stadium, Abu Dhabi</td> <p></p><td>8.30 PM</td> <p></p></tr> <p></p><tr> <p></p><td height="20"></td> <p></p><td></td> <p></p><td></td> <p></p></tr> <p></p><tr> <p></p><td height="20"></td> <p></p><td></td> <p></p><td></td> <p></p></tr> <p></p><tr> <p></p><td height="80"></td> <p></p><td width="254">United Arab Emirates vs Ireland, Group A <p></p>Dubai International Cricket Stadium , Dubai</td> <p></p><td>3.30 PM</td> <p></p></tr> <p></p><tr> <p></p><td height="20">January 18, Wednesday</td> <p></p><td></td> <p></p><td></td> <p></p></tr> <p></p><tr> <p></p><td height="60"></td> <p></p><td width="254">Hong Kong vs Netherlands, Group B <p></p>Dubai International Cricket Stadium, Dubai</td> <p></p><td>8.30 PM</td> <p></p></tr> <p></p><tr> <p></p><td height="20"></td> <p></p><td></td> <p></p><td></td> <p></p></tr> <p></p><tr> <p></p><td height="20"></td> <p></p><td></td> <p></p><td></td> <p></p></tr> <p></p><tr> <p></p><td height="60"></td> <p></p><td width="254">Afghanistan vs Namibia, Group A <p></p>Dubai International Cricket Stadium, Dubai</td> <p></p><td>3.30 PM</td> <p></p></tr> <p></p><tr> <p></p><td height="20">January 19, Thursday</td> <p></p><td></td> <p></p><td></td> <p></p></tr> <p></p><tr> <p></p><td height="60"></td> <p></p><td width="254">Oman vs Scotland, Group B <p></p>Dubai International Cricket Stadium, Dubai</td> <p></p><td>8.30 PM</td> <p></p></tr> <p></p><tr> <p></p><td height="20"></td> <p></p><td></td> <p></p><td></td> <p></p></tr> <p></p><tr> <p></p><td height="20"></td> <p></p><td></td> <p></p><td></td> <p></p></tr> <p></p><tr> <p></p><td height="60"></td> <p></p><td width="254">TBC vs TBC, 1st Semi-final <p></p>Dubai International Cricket Stadium, Dubai</td> <p></p><td>11.30 AM</td> <p></p></tr> <p></p><tr> <p></p><td height="20"></td> <p></p><td></td> <p></p><td></td> <p></p></tr> <p></p><tr> <p></p><td height="60">January 20, Friday</td> <p></p><td width="254">TBC vs TBC, 2nd Semi-final <p></p>Dubai International Cricket Stadium , Dubai</td> <p></p><td>4.00 PM</td> <p></p></tr> <p></p><tr> <p></p><td height="20"></td> <p></p><td></td> <p></p><td></td> <p></p></tr> <p></p><tr> <p></p><td height="60"></td> <p></p><td width="254">TBC vs TBC, Final <p></p>Dubai International Cricket Stadium, Dubai</td> <p></p><td>9.00 PM</td> <p></p></tr> <p></p></tbody> <p></p></table>
