Nepal will open their ICC World Cricket League (WCL) Division 2 tournament with a match against the hosts Namibia at the WAP School in Windhoek on February 8.

The fixture of the six-team event announced on Friday saw Nepal take on Oman the very next day at the same venue. After a day’s break, Nepal return to play the United Arab Emirates (UAE) at the Trustco United Club ground before tackling Kenya on Feb 12 at the Wanderers Cricket Ground.

Nepal play Canada at the Wanderers Cricket ground on Feb 12. The Div 2 comprises of four teams—Nepal, Kenya, UAE, Namibia—demoted from the ICC WCL Championships and two teams—Canada, Oman—promoted from Div 3.

The top two teams from Division 2 will not only play for the title on February 15 but will also ensure their passage to the ICC Cricket World Cup Qualifiers in Zimbabwe in March. They will join the likes of West Indies, Zimbabwe, Ireland, Netherlands, PNG, Afghanistan, Scotland and Hong Kong to battle for two available berths for the 2019 World Cup.

Qualification to the 2019 world Cup may be a far cry considering the presence of the West Indies, Zimbabwe, Afghanistan and Ireland but what’s more significant is to reach the final in Namibia which will open future opportunities to Nepal. While the Qualifiers provide the three highest-placed Associate nations One-Day International status until 2022, it also opens up the opportunity to compete in the Intercontinental Cup—a four-day cricket tournament between top Associates—and the World Cricket League Championship which is a 50-over home and away tournament. For that to the happen, Nepal need to pass the first hurdle,i.e, to grab the top two position in Division 2.

Nepal will fine tune their preparations in the UAE after their initial plan to travel to South Africa collapsed. The Nepal team is scheduled to play a few friendly games against the local clubs and train at the ICC Global Cricket Academy in Dubai.

WCL Division 2

Feb 8: vs Namibia

Feb 9: vs Oman

Feb 11: vs UAE

Feb 12: vs Kenya

Feb 14: vs Canada