Fourteen Associate teams will attempt to outwit, outplay and outlast one another in Ireland and Scotland starting Thursday at the World Twenty20 Qualifier. The six surviving teams after an intense 51-match event in 18 days will earn a ticket to India for the 2016 World Twenty20 next March. With the World T20 scaling back from a biennial event to once every four years from 2016 onwards - and no guaranteed places for Associates in the 50-over World Cup - there is even greater desperation in this tournament.
Scotland 110 for 1 ( Munsey 62*, Coetzer 39) beat UAE 109 (Naveed 19*, Leask 3-20, Watt 3-28) by nine wickets Offspinner Michael Leask and left-arm spinner Mark Watt claimed three wickets apiece, as Scotland opened the World T20 Qualifier with a resounding nine-wicket win over Scotland in Edinburgh. The spinners rolled over UAE for 109 inside 19 overs, before George Munsey's boundary-laden 62 off 36 balls helped the co-hosts ace the chase with ten overs to spare.
Ireland 128 for 3 (Porterfield 56*, Niall O'Brien 45) beat Namibia 124 for 8 (Mooney 3-23) by seven wickets
Netherlands 191 for 6 (Barresi 75, Borren 57, Evans 5-24) beat Scotland 159 (Mommsen 68*, Bukhari 3-22) by 32 runs
Ireland 146-6 (Balbirnie 44, Patel 3-13) beat USA 100 by 46 runs Afghanistan 210 for 5 (Shahzad 75, Leask 2-24) beat Scotland 173 (Mommsen 44, Nabi 3-25) by 37 runs
Scotland 142 for 3 (Cross 45*, Berrington 34*) beat Kenya 141 for 5 (Karim 46, Ouma 36*) by seven wickets
Scotland 139 for 2 (Coetzer 51*, Munsey 33*) beat Canada 135 for 8 (Dhaliwal 34*, Davey 3-36) by eight wickets
Hong Kong 129 for 8 (Chapman 30, Kevin O'Brien 3-32) beat Ireland 124 for 8 (Stirling 34, Irfan 3-11) by five runs
Scotland 173 for 5 (Coetzer 63, Mommsen 32*, Maqsood 3-29) beat Oman 150 for 7 (Kaleem 59, Sharif 3-27) by 23 runs Scotland book World T20 spot with 23-run win
Ireland 123-3 (Stirling 55, Balbirnie 32, Stevens 2-20) beat Jersey 122 (Gough 42, Stirling 3-16, Mooney 3-20) by seven wickets Ireland qualify for World T20's
Hong Kong and the Netherlands have joined Scotland and Ireland in qualifying for next year's ICC World Twenty20 tournament in India. The Dutch made 137-6 to beat Namibia by four wickets with four balls remaining in their play-off in Malahide, Dublin. Hong Kong edged out Afghanistan by five wickets, having needed 16 from the last over at the same venue. Both the losing sides have one more chance to qualify - if they win their final qualifying play-offs on Thursday
All four sides in Saturday's semi-finals have already qualified for 2016, but the Qualifier continues with ICC ranking points still up for grabs. Scotland face Hong Kong in the semis, with Ireland meeting the Netherlands, with the winners of those two games meeting in the Qualifier's final.
Oman and Afghanistan have grabbed the last two places in next year's ICC World Twenty20 tournament in India. Afghanistan overcame Papua New Guinea by six wickets with 10 balls to spare at Malahide, Dublin, to qualify for the event for the fourth successive time. Oman then beat Namibia by five wickets at the same venue to qualify for their first major global cricket tournament. The victory also means Oman have been granted Twenty20 international status by the International Cricket Council.
Netherlands 129 for 5 (Cooper 43, Borren 36*, K O'Brien 3-26) beat Ireland 128 (K O'Brien 33, Bukhari 4-28) by 5 wickets
Scotland 117 for 5 (Cross 39, Coetzer 33) beat Hong Kong 116 (Aizaz 31, Evans 3-17, Taylor 3-17, Sharif 3-29) by 5 wickets
The weather which had behaved wonderfully in Malahide over the last nine days finally turned sour on Sunday at the World Twenty20 Qualifier, as the third place game - between Ireland and Hong Kong - and championship match - between Scotland and the Netherlands - were both abandoned without a ball bowled. It was the first time that any overs were lost for matches played in Dublin during the tournament tournament, with 16 games played to their full conclusion prior to Sunday. Scotland and Netherlands share the trophy