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The Netherlands will tour Zimbabwe to play a three-match ODI series in Harare, beginning March 21.
The ODI series will be a part of the ICC Men's Cricket World Cup Super League, which is the route for direct qualification to the ICC Men's Cricket World Cup 2023 in India. The Super League sees the top eight sides, including India as hosts, earn direct qualification for the Cricket World Cup in October. The bottom five sides will join five Associate teams, three from ICC Cricket World Cup League 2 and two from the Qualifier play-offs, to feature in the ICC Men's World Cup Qualifier 2023 in Zimbabwe. Of these 10 sides, two will go on to feature in the global event. Both Zimbabwe, placed at 12th on the Super League points table with 45 points, and the Netherlands, placed 13th with 25 points, are out of contention for direct qualification to the World Cup. Despite this, the Chevrons skipper Craig Ervine believes that the series was still important for his side. "I think the tour is very important for a couple of reasons," Ervine said. "One being it's a chance to look at some options ahead of the ICC Men's World Cup Qualifier on home soil and what sort of team our selectors are looking at. "Two, it's an opportunity to keep the momentum going which has brought the crowds back to Harare Sports Club and which we want to carry through to the qualifiers. What we want to see again is the support we had during the 2018 qualifiers and we can only get that support by continuously winning games." This will be Zimbabwe's final outing in the Super League. Tour fixtures: Mar 21: 1st ODI, Harare Sports Club Mar 23: 2nd ODI, Harare Sports Club Mar 25: 3rd ODI, Harare Sports Club --IANS bak ( 319 Words) 2023-03-06-22:06:04 (IANS)
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