The T20 World Cup will take place next February in India and partially in Sri Lanka. The final vacant spot among the 20 participating teams was confirmed on Thursday. The United Arab Emirates secured their place in the World Cup by defeating Japan in the Asia-Pacific regional qualifiers.
In the match held in Al Amerat, Oman, Japan batted first and scored only 116 runs for the loss of 9 wickets. Watari Miyauchi, who came in at number nine, scored 45 runs on his own. The rest of the batters were ineffective.
Chasing a small target, the UAE finished the match with 8 wickets in hand and 47 balls remaining. Alishan Sharafu remained unbeaten on 46, and captain Muhammad Waseem stayed not out on 42. With this win, the UAE became the 20th team to qualify for the World Cup.
From this region’s qualifiers, three teams earned direct entry to the World Cup. Nepal and Oman had already confirmed their places earlier. The final spot came down to a fight between the UAE and Japan, and with the victory, the UAE came out on top. They secured 6 points from 5 matches.
Although the qualifiers are still ongoing, no other team has the chance to advance based on points. Nepal has 8 points from 4 matches, Oman has 6 from 4, and the UAE has 6 from 5.
As hosts, India and Sri Lanka had secured their World Cup spots from the start. From the ICC’s top seven teams’ quota came Afghanistan, Australia, Bangladesh, England, South Africa, the United States, and the West Indies. Later, based on rankings, Pakistan, New Zealand, and Ireland were added.
Outside of those 12 teams, the remaining eight places were filled through qualifiers from four regions. From the Americas came Canada; from Europe, Italy and the Netherlands; from Africa, Namibia and Zimbabwe; and from Asia-Pacific, Oman, Nepal, and finally the United Arab Emirates secured spots in the main round of the World Cup.
