CWC Qualifier Day 3 preview: Depleted Dutch face Zimbabwe, Nepal take on US

After registering a fantastic win in their first game, hosts Zimbabwe would take on a depleted Netherlands. Nepal and USA will also face each other today. Both teams lost their opening matches

A scintillating victory against Nepal will boost the confidence of hosts Zimbabwe. They are also favourites to go through to the super six from group A in the Cricket World Cup Qualifiers and eventually finish in the top two of the entire tournament to move to the ICC ODI World Cup 2023. 

The Craig Ervine-led side would be aiming to win as big as possible to increase their net run rate which comes in handy at the end of the tournament. The Netherlands are missing their seven first 11 players because of county cricket contracts and are therefore not very strong. 

Despite not being very strong, Dutch won’t be a pushover for Zimbabwe either. The likes of skipper Edwards, Wesley Baressi and Max O’Dowd have great experience playing at the highest level for Men in Orange. The Dutch would aim to utilise these players in a massive way to get ahead in this group and then in the super six. 

ZIM vs NED, CWC Qualifier 2023: Details

Match No.- 05

Date- 20 June 2023

Time- 12:30 pm IST, 09:00 am Local Time

Venue- Harare Sports Club, Harare

Series- Cricket World Cup Qualifier 2023

Live Stream and Broadcast in India: Disney Plus Hotstar, Fancode and Star Sports

Zimbabwe probable playing 11

Joylord Gumbie, Craig Ervine (c), Wessly Madhevere, Sean Williams, Sikandar Raza, Ryan Burl, Clive Madande (wk), Wellington Masakadza, Richard Ngarava, Tendai Chatara, Blessing Muzarabani

Netherlands probable playing 11

Max O'Dowd, Vikram Singh, Bas de Leede, Wesley Barresi, Scott Edwards (c) (wk), Teja Nidamanuru, Saqib Zulfiqar, Logan van Beek, Aryan Dutt, Ryan Klein, Vivian Kingma

Zimbabwe vs Netherlands CWC Qualifier, Pitch Report

The pitch at Harare Sports Club was almost a road with no help for the bowlers and no problem for the batters. Zimbabwe chased down 291 very easily, thus a captain winning the toss would look to field first. 

Also Read: CWC Qualifier group A: Dutch miss key players; Nepal, USA pose great threat

In the second game of the day, which takes place simultaneously with the first one, Nepal would be up against the USA. Both teams lost their opening encounters to Zimbabwe and West Indies, respectively. 

However, the two teams also found two great batters- Kushal Bhurtel for Nepal and Gajanand Singh for the USA who tore apart the opposition bowling attack. Almost equally talented, the two teams might end up producing a thriller.  

NEP vs USA, CWC Qualifier 2023: Details

Match No.- 06

Date- 20 June 2023

Time- 12:30 pm IST, 09:00 am Local Time

Venue- Takashinga Sports Club, Harare

Series- Cricket World Cup Qualifier 2023

Live Stream and Broadcast in India: Disney Plus Hotstar, Fancode and Star Sports

Nepal probable playing 11

Kushal Bhurtel, Aasif Sheikh (wk), Bhim Sharki, Rohit Paudel (c), Kushal Malla, Aarif Sheikh, Dipendra 

USA probable playing 11

Steven Taylor, Sushant Modani, Monank Patel (c & wk), Aaron Jones, Saiteja Mukkamalla, Gajanand Singh, Shayan Jahangir, Jasdeep Singh, Nosthush Kenjige, Kyle Phillip, Saurabh Netravalkar

Nepal vs United States of America, CWC Qualifier pitch report

In the previous game played at the Takashinga, where the USA faced West Indies, runs were coming thick and fast. Hence, in this game too, quick runs are expected from the flat and dry wicket. 

Harare Weather Forecast

It will be bright and sunny throughout the day in Harare with the temperature expected to rise from 18 degrees Celcius at 09:00 am local time to 23 degrees Celcius by 05:00 pm local time. There are no chances of rain at all.