Netherlands to host T20I tri-seres ahead of T20 WC

NEW DELHI: Ahead of the ICC Men's T20 World Cup 2024, the Netherlands is set to host a T20I triangular series in the month of May. The other two teams in this series will be Ireland and Scotland. The series will be played from 18 to 24 May in Amstelveen before the teams leave for the mega event.

Fullscreen At the 2022 T20 World Cup in Australia, all three teams competed in the first round of matches, which were separated into two groups of four. The top two teams from each group advanced to the Super 12, but Scotland failed to qualify after coming in third in Group B. Ireland defeated eventual champions, England by five runs on the DLS system. Meanwhile, the Netherlands won two matches, including a historic victory that knocked South Africa out of the tournament.

All three nations' high-performance officials emphasised the importance of this task, citing its role in fine-tuning their preparations for the upcoming T20 World Cup which is scheduled to take place in the USA and West Indies later this year in June. "We are excited to host this Tri-Series as part of our preparation for the T20 World Cup played in America and the West Indies in June.

Twenty teams will be competing in this year's event which makes this World Cup a truly global event, with more than a billion TV viewers worldwide. The Netherlands team will be aiming to emulate the success they had in Australia in 2022," said Roland Lefebvre, High Performance Manager at KNCB as quoted by ICC. Steve Snell, Cricket Scotland Head of High Performance, emphasised on the importance of the series in the lead up to the World Cup.

"I'm pleased with the quality and volume of cricket we have in the leadup to the Men's T20 World Cup, and this Tri-Series offers further vital preparation and crucial game time for our squad. Coming immediately after a home WCL2 series, it's important that our players take on high quality opposition in the relevant format ahead of the World Cup, and we are most grateful to the Netherlands and Ireland for jointly working with us on this series.

Director Cricket Ireland, also shared similar sentiments. "With the Men's T20 World Cup approaching, it has been important to have a solid preparation period in the leadup. With the Afghan series in March, Pakistan in early May and now the Netherlands and Scotland in late May we feel this offers the squad a range of high quality opponents, which will put us in good stead for the coming tournament.

Our thanks to the KNCB for hosting the series," Holdsworth said. Fixtures: 18 May 2024: 1st T20I, Netherlands vs Scotland. 19 May 2024: 2nd T20I, Ireland vs Netherlands. 20 May 2024: 3rd T20I, Ireland vs Scotland. 22 May 2024: 4th T20I, Scotland vs Netherlands. 23 May 2024: 5th T20I, Ireland vs Scotland. 24 May 2024: 6th T20I, Ireland vs Scotland.