Published: Dec 14, 2015, 04:10 PM (IST)
Edited: Dec 14, 2015, 04:11 PM (IST)
The International Cricket Council (ICC) announced the schedule of the third round test of ICC Intercontinental Cup and ICC World Cricket League on Monday. Out of the seven rounds, Ireland stand tall with a double win over Namibia and United Arab Emirates (UAE) in the Intercontinental Cup, which comfortably helps them secure a maximum of 40 points after round two. As for the points table, Ireland are secure at the second spot with 14 points, followed by Afghanistan with 21 points at the third spot. In the upcoming matches, Scotland will take on Hong Kong, on the other hand UAE will face Netherlands (January 21–January 24). These matches will be played before the leaders Netherlands will face Papua New Guinea (PNG) in Townsville, Australia (January 31–February 3).
The team who wins the ICC Intercontinental Cup will proceed for ICC Test Challenges to play against the 10th – ranked test side as host and away in 2018. If the winning team from ICC Intercontinental Cup manages to win all the four matches in ICC Test Challenges, they seal the Test status until the next edition, which will be held in 2022.
Looking at the points table of ICC World Cricket League Championship, there is a tie between Hong Kong, Kenya, Netherlands and Scotland with 6 points each. From the eight teams participating, top four teams will progress to ICC Cricket World Cup Qualifier being scheduled to be played at Bangladesh in 2018. Below is the schedule for the third round matches to be played and points table for Intercontinental Cup and ICC Cricket League Championship:
|
Date |
Fixture |
Venue |
Intercontinental Cup/ League |
| 21-24 – 01 – 2016 | Hong Kong vs Scotland | Mission Road | Intercontinental Cup |
| 26 – 28 – 01 – 2016 | Hong Kong vs Scotland | Mission Road | ICC Cricket League Championship |
| 21-24 – 01 – 2016 | UAE vs Netherlands | Abu Dhabi | Intercontinental Cup |
| 27-29 – 01 – 2016 | UAE vs Netherlands | Abu Dhabi | ICC Cricket League Championship |
| 31-03 – 02 – 2016 | Papua New Guinea vs Ireland | Townsville, Australia | Intercontinental Cup |
| 10-13 – 04 – 2016 | Afghanistan vs Namibia | TBC | Intercontinental Cup |
| 16-18 – 04 – 2016 | Nepal vs Namibia | Kathmandu, Nepal | ICC Cricket League Championship |
| April/ May – TBC | Papa New Guinea vs Kenya | TBC | ICC Cricket League Championship |
Intercontinental Cup table:
| TEAM | PLAYED | WON | LOST | DRAW | POINTS |
| Ireland | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 40 |
| Netherlands | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 26 |
| Afghanistan | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 21 |
| Hong Kong | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 20 |
| PNG | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 20 |
| Namibia | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 20 |
| Scotland | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 13 |
| UAE | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 00 |
ICC World Cricket League Championship table:
| TEAM | PLAYED | WON | LOST | N/R | POINTS |
| Hong Kong | 4 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 6 |
| Kenya | 4 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 6 |
| Netherlands | 4 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 6 |
| Scotland | 4 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 6 |
| PNG | 4 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 4 |
| Namibia | 4 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 2 |
| UAE | 4 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 2 |
| Nepal | 4 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 |
All the live score updates and reports from ICC Cricket League Championship as well Intercontinental Cup will be available at the cricketcountry.com.
