Five places in Super Six up for grabs in the remaining eight matches

Not only that, a fight to avoid relegation to the ICC World Cricket League Division 2 is also on.

Defending champions Scotland are the only side after three rounds to have secured a place in the Super Six after having won all their three matches so far.

Their last Group B match is against Zimbabwe on Monday and if they win it they will carry four points to the Super Six stage.

Otherwise, the Group B situation is pretty complicated following the first three round matches. There are a number of possible scenarios and in the four matches, anything can happen.

On Saturday, hosts Zimbabwe play Hong Kong and Afghanistan take on Nepal, while on Monday, Hong Kong meet Nepal and Zimbabwe will square off against Scotland.

If Zimbabwe beat Hong Kong on Saturday, they will be guaranteed a place in the Super Six and their match on Monday against Scotland will decide which side progresses with the maximum four points.

If Afghanistan beat Nepal in the other match on Saturday and then Nepal beat Hong Kong on Monday, then Afghanistan, Hong Kong and Nepal will all be tied on one win apiece and net run-rate will come into the equation to determine the third qualifier from Group B.

However, if Hong Kong beat Zimbabwe and Nepal beat Afghanistan (both matches on Saturday) and then Scotland beat Zimbabwe and Nepal beat Hong Kong (both matches on Monday), then it will be a three-way tie between Nepal, Hong Kong and Zimbabwe for the two available places in the Super Six from Group B.

If Zimbabwe beat Hong Kong and Afghanistan beat Nepal on Saturday, then Hong Kong will go through if they beat Nepal on Monday. But if Hong Kong lose both their matches and provided Afghanistan have beaten Nepal, then Afghanistan with a superior run-rate will qualify ahead of both Hong Kong and Nepal.

As far as Group A is concerned, the winner of Saturday’s broadcast match between two-time former world champions the Windies and Ireland will secure a place in the Super Six, while the Netherlands will have to beat Papua New Guinea (PNG) to keep their Super Six hopes alive. If PNG beat the Netherlands, then both the sides will play in the seventh to 10th positon classification matches while Ireland, the Windies and the UAE will progress to the Super Six.

If Ireland win on Saturday, then they will have to beat the UAE to take maximum carryover points into the Super Six stage.

However, if Ireland lose and the Netherlands win their last two matches, then the UAE and the Windies will be tied on three wins, while Ireland and the Netherlands will be locked on four points apiece with net run-rate to decide the final group placings.

In another scenario, Ireland, the UAE and the Windies can be locked on three wins each if Ireland beat the Windies on Saturday, but then lose to the UAE and the Netherlands lose to the Windies on Monday.

Alternatively, if the Windies lose their last two matches, the UAE beat Ireland on Monday and the Netherlands beat PNG, then Ireland and the UAE will be tied with three wins apiece, while the Windies and the Netherlands will have two wins each.

Although PNG are the first side to be out of the Super Six race, there is plenty at stake for them in the remaining matches as they will be desperate to avoid the 9th-10thplay-off, as this could see them needing to earn their place in the next ICC World Cricket League Championship through the cut-throat ICC World Cricket League Division 2, rather than directly qualifying for the next ICC World Cricket League Championship by finishing in the highest possible position in this tournament.

The two lowest-placed Associate Members in the 2018 CWCQ, (excluding the Netherlands, who have already qualified for the new 13-team ODI League commencing in 2020), will have to contest the next ICC World Cricket League Division 2 tournament in 2019.

Fixtures for Saturday (matches start 09h30 local time; matches involving the Netherlands and Nepal will be classified as List-A matches as the two sides don’t have ODI status coming into this tournament)

o   Windies v Ireland, Harare Sports Club; Michael Gough and Simon Fry (on-field), Shaun George (third umpire), Langton Rusere (fourth umpire), Graeme La Brooy (match referee)

o   PNG v Netherlands, Old Hararians; Ahsan Raza and Sharfuddoula Ibne Shahid (on-field), Jeremiah Matibiri (reserve umpire), Devdas Govindjee (match referee)

o   Zimbabwe v Hong Kong, Queens Sports Club, Bulawayo; Joel Wilson and Gregory Brathwaire (on-field), Chris Brown (reserve umpire), Shahit Wadvalla (match referee)

o   Afghanistan v Nepal, Bulawayo Athletic Club, Bulawayo; Paul Wilson and Adrian Holdstock  (on-field), Iknow Chabi (reserve umpire), David Jukes (match referee)

Fixtures for Monday (matches start 09h30 local time; matches involving the Netherlands and Nepal will be classified as List-A matches as the two sides don’t have ODI status coming into this tournament):

o   Windies v Netherlands, Harare Sports Club; Shaun George and Michael Gough (on-field), Ahsan Raza (third umpire), Sharfuddoula Ibne Shahid (fourth umpire), Graeme La Brooy (match referee)

o   Ireland v UAE, Old Hararians; Simon Fry and Langton Rusere (on-field), Jeremiah Matibiri (reserve umpire), Devdas Govindjee (match referee) 

o   Hong Kong v Nepal, Queens Sports Club; Chris Brown and Joel Wilson (on-field), Iknow Chabi (reserve umpire), David Jukes (match referee)

o   Zimbabwe v Scotland, Bulawayo Athletic Club; Paul Wilson and Gregory Brathwaite (on-field), Adrian Holdstock (reserve umpire), Shahit Wadvalla (match referee)