Chevrons to play Namibia

AS the T20 World Cup Africa Regional Qualifiers commencement dates draw closer, the Chevrons are set to tour the tournament’s host nation, Namibia as part of their preparations.

The Chevrons and the Eagles are set to play six T20s starting on Monday October 23.

Cricket Namibia published the tour dates when they released their calendar and the series is set to conclude in the beginning of November, three weeks before the start of the Qualifiers.

This will be the Chevrons first international assignment since July where they took part in the 2023 International Cricket Council (ICC) Men’s Cricket World Cup Qualifiers and they fell short of booking their tickets to India for the global showpiece.

Zimbabwe and Namibia will be playing against each for the first time in a year with the previous encounter being one to forget for Zimbabwe. The Eagles managed to secure a historical 3-2 win over the Chevrons at Queens Sports Club in Bulawayo last year. It was Namibia’s first series win over an ICC Full Member.

According to the Cricket Namibia calendar, the six matches are scheduled for 23, 24, 26 30, 31 October and November 1.

Both sides, who are favourites to qualify for the T20 World Cup, will be using the upcoming series as part of their preparations for the continental showdown.

A total of seven African teams will compete for the two available slots to the global showpiece that will be hosted by West Indies and the United States of America (USA) in June next year.

The Chevrons and the tournament hosts, Namibia did not participate in the Sub-Regional Qualifiers which five of their opponents played in.

The other teams that will take part in the qualification tournament are Kenya, Nigeria, Rwanda, Tanzania and Uganda.

The tournament is scheduled for November 20 to December 1.

Zimbabwe missed out on direct qualification to the extended 20-team World Cup finals after failing to make the top eight in the previous edition of the tournament which was held in Australia last year.

The 20 teams in the World Cup will be divided into four groups of five, from which the top two teams in each group advance to the Super Eight round.

The series against Namibia and the upcoming qualification tournament will be the perfect opportunity for the Chevrons to put past them the failure to qualify for the 50-over World Cup which gets underway today in India.

Last year, Zimbabwe ended a six-year wait to take part in a major international event after qualifying for the T20 World Cup and going on to reach the Super 12 stage for the first time ever.

Playing and winning the series against Namibia and also qualifying for the T20 World Cup will be a big confidence booster in the Chevrons camp. —@brandon_malvin