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KABUL (SW): Afghanistan is set to feature in a forthcoming ‘Desert T20’ cricket tournament in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) later this month.
Fixtures for the tournament have been announced that would see eight of the top Associates in Cricket collaborate to bring the inaugural Desert T20 tournament to the United Arab Emirates.
The 7-day tournament will commence on Saturday January 14th at Abu Dhabi Cricket Club’s Zayed Cricket Stadium, and will continue daily through to January 17th before relocating to Dubai Sports City’s International Cricket Stadium for the final 2-days of match play. The final would be played on Friday January 20th.
Associate teams participating include Afghanistan, Hong Kong, Ireland, Namibia, Netherlands, Oman, Scotland, and the UAE.
“Emirates Cricket Board is delighted to collaborate with the participating Associates to bring this inaugural T20 tournament to the UAE. The aim of the tournament is to provide an opportunity for our teams to play more competitive Men’s T20 cricket.” Zayed Abbas, Emirates Cricket Board Member, has been quoted by the Scotland Cricket Board in a report on its official website. “Each of the participating countries is very close in ICC T20I rankings, so we expect the quality of cricket to be very strong”, he added.
Drawn in to Pool A are Afghanistan (9), Ireland (17), Namibia (NR), and the UAE (14). While in Pool B contains The Netherlands (11), Scotland (13), Oman (16) and Hong Kong (15).
“With the world class practice facilities and playing surfaces available to us in the UAE, we are confident each Associate will benefit greatly from this tournament. We extend our sincere thanks to the participating Unions, the ICC and the ICC Academy for their support and commitment to this tournament.” added Abbas.
Saturday’s opening matches, in Abu Dhabi, will be Scotland v Hong Kong at 2pm followed by Afghanistan v Ireland at 7pm local time.
ENDS
