# 2019–23 ICC Cricket World Cup League 2

The 2019–2023 ICC Cricket World Cup League 2 was the first edition of the ICC Cricket World Cup League 2, a cricket tournament which formed part of the 2023 Cricket World Cup qualification process. The tournament was played from August 2019 to March 2023, with all matches played as One Day Internationals (ODIs). Each set of fixtures was planned to take place as a tri-series.
Scotland, Nepal and the United Arab Emirates were joined by the top four teams from the 2019 ICC World Cricket League Division Two tournament. Round 1 was played in Aberdeen, Scotland in August 2019.
The league table combined both the qualification for the 2023 World Cup with the system of promotion and relegation for the following editions of the various Cricket leagues. For qualification to the World Cup, the top three teams advanced directly to the 2023 Cricket World Cup Qualifier tournament, while the bottom four teams were sent to the 2023 ICC Cricket World Cup Qualifier Play-off. In that Play-off those bottom four teams were joined by the top two teams from the Challenge League, with the top two teams from that Play-off advancing to the Qualifier Tournament.
For promotion, it was originally intended that the top ranked team in this CWC League 2 would gain the opportunity to be promoted to the 2020–2023 ICC Cricket World Cup Super League if it finished higher than the 13th-placed Super League team at the 2023 Cricket World Cup Qualifier. However, in November 2021, the ICC announced that there would not be a second edition of the Super League, guaranteeing that Scotland would remain in the next League 2.
For relegation, United Arab Emirates and Papua New Guinea finished 6th and 7th, respectively. As a result, the Play-off tournament for them not only determined qualification for the World Cup, but also whether or not they would be relegated to the Challenge League. Among the six teams in that Play-off, the two teams among the United Arab Emirates, Papua New Guinea, Canada and Jersey (who had finished in the top two of the Challenge League), would qualify for the next edition of League 2. For the teams that finished 4th and 5th, Namibia and The United States, the play-off would determine only their World Cup qualification—even last place finishes for those teams would not result in relegation.
Scotland secured first place in the league on 15 February 2023 with a 10-wicket win against Namibia. They were presented with the trophy at the end of round 19 of the tournament in Kirtipur. Oman and Nepal finished in second and third, respectively, with Nepal winning 11 of their final 12 matches to pass Namibia in the final match of the tournament and secure a place in the 2023 Cricket World Cup Qualifier tournament.

## Teams

| Team | Mode of qualification |
| Nepal | Existing ODI status |
| Scotland | Existing ODI status |
| United Arab Emirates | Existing ODI status |
| Namibia | Promoted from 2019 ICC World Cricket League Division Two |
| Oman | Promoted from 2019 ICC World Cricket League Division Two |
| Papua New Guinea | Promoted from 2019 ICC World Cricket League Division Two |
| United States | Promoted from 2019 ICC World Cricket League Division Two |
The top three teams in the ICC Cricket World Cup League 2 qualified for the World Cup Qualifier while the bottom four went to the Qualifier Play-off.

## Fixtures

The International Cricket Council (ICC) confirmed the following schedule of fixtures. In December 2020, the ICC announced a revised schedule following the disruption caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. In March 2022, the ICC issued a further update for rounds 9 to 15, with those rounds scheduled to take place from March to August 2022.
| Round | Date | Host team | 2nd team | 3rd team | Notes |
| 1 | August 2019 | Scotland | Oman | Papua New Guinea | |
| 2 | September 2019 | United States | Papua New Guinea | Namibia | |
| 3 | December 2019 | United Arab Emirates | Scotland | United States | |
| 4 | January 2020 | Oman | Namibia | United Arab Emirates | The final two matches were postponed to round 8 following the death of Qaboos bin Said. |
| 5 | February 2020 | Nepal | United States | Oman | |
| 6 | September 2021 | Oman | United States | Nepal | Originally scheduled for January 2021; postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. |
| 7 | September 2021 | Oman | Scotland | Papua New Guinea | Originally scheduled for January 2022. |
| 8 | November 2021 | Namibia | Oman | United Arab Emirates | Originally scheduled for August 2021; postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Included the two matches postponed from round 4. However, only two matches were played before the remaining matches were postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. |
| N/A | February 2022 | Oman | United Arab Emirates | N/A | Arranged to make up for matches postponed during round 4 and round 8. |
| 9 | March 2022 | United Arab Emirates | Namibia | Oman | Originally scheduled for December 2020; postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Included one match postponed from round 4. |
| 10 | March 2022 | United Arab Emirates | Papua New Guinea | Nepal | Originally scheduled for January 2022. |
| 11 | April 2022 | Papua New Guinea | Oman | Scotland | Originally scheduled for April 2021; postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Later moved from Papua New Guinea to the UAE. |
| 12 | May 2022 | United States | Scotland | United Arab Emirates | Originally scheduled for March 2020; postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. |
| 13 | June 2022 | United States | Nepal | Oman | Originally scheduled for August 2021; postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. |
| 14 | July 2022 | Scotland | Nepal | Namibia | Originally scheduled for July 2020; postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. |
| 15 | August 2022 | Scotland | United Arab Emirates | United States | Originally scheduled for June 2021; postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. |
| 16 | September 2022 | Papua New Guinea | Namibia | United States | Originally scheduled for September 2021; postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. |
| 17 | November 2022 | Namibia | Papua New Guinea | United States | Originally scheduled for September 2020; postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. |
| 18 | December 2022 | Namibia | Nepal | Scotland | Originally scheduled for April 2020; postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. |
| 19 | February 2023 | Nepal | Namibia | Scotland | |
| N/A | February 2023 | United Arab Emirates | Namibia | N/A | Arranged to make up for matches postponed during round 8. |
| 20 | February 2023 | United Arab Emirates | Nepal | Papua New Guinea | This was the second tri-series between these sides to be hosted by the UAE (Papua New Guinea did not host a tri-series). |
| 21 | March 2023 | Nepal | Papua New Guinea | United Arab Emirates | |
As originally planned, each team would host three tri-series, each time joined by a different two of the other six teams. Each tri-series would comprise six matches (two between each pair of teams). Therefore, over the course of the whole tournament, each team would play each other team twice at home, twice away, and twice at a neutral venue. Some matches had to be rescheduled for different times and venues (see below), so this original schedule did not happen fully as planned, but each team did play a total of six fixtures against each other team.

### Alterations

Two of Oman's home matches were cancelled during round 4, and they were ultimately played as part of a home bilateral series (against the UAE in February 2022) and as an additional game (against Namibia) in round 9 in the UAE.
On 13 March 2020, round 6, scheduled to take place in Lauderhill, Florida in April 2020, was postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic and travel restrictions to the United States. On 24 March 2020, the ICC also confirmed that rounds 7 and 8, scheduled to take place in Namibia and Papua New Guinea respectively, had also been postponed. Round 9, scheduled to take place in Scotland in July 2020, was postponed on 10 June 2020. Round 10, scheduled to take place in Namibia in September 2020, was postponed on 23 July 2020.
In February 2021, the ICC confirmed that (newly numbered) rounds 6, 7, and 8 of their updated schedule had also been postponed. Round 6 was scheduled to take place in Oman, with rounds 7 and 8 originally scheduled to be played in Papua New Guinea. Round 8 was rescheduled to take place in Namibia during November and December 2021. However, only two matches were played before the remaining fixtures were postponed due to the discovery of a new variant of COVID-19 in Southern Africa.
In February 2022, Oman and the UAE played a three-match bilateral series in Oman to make up for games that had been postponed during the earlier tri-series in Oman and Namibia. In April 2022, Papua New Guinea's home tri-series against Oman and Scotland (round 11) was played in the UAE. In February 2023, the UAE hosted Namibia for a two-match bilateral series to make up for games that had been postponed during round 8 in Namibia. The UAE hosted two tri-series against Nepal and Papua New Guinea (rounds 10 and 20), including one that would originally have been played in Papua New Guinea.

## Results

Results from the home and away matches are as follows:
| Home \ Away | | | | | | | |
| Namibia | — | 1–0 [2] | 1–1 [2] | 2–0 [2] | 1–1 [2] | —$^1$ | 1–1 [2] |
| Nepal | 2–0 [2] | — | 0–2 [2] | 2–0 [2] | 2–0 [2] | 2–0 [2] | 2–0 [2] |
| Oman | 0–1 [1] | 1–1 [2] | — | 2–0 [2] | 0–1 [2] | 1–2 [4]$^2$ | 2–0 [2] |
| Papua New Guinea | 0–2 [2] | —$^3$ | 0–2 [2]$^4$ | — | 0–2 [2]$^4$ | —$^3$ | 1–0 [2] |
| Scotland | 2–0 [2] | 1–1 [2] | 1–1 [2] | 2–0 [2] | — | 2–0 [2] | 1–1 [2] |
| United Arab Emirates | 3–1 [4]$^1$ | 3–1 [4]$^3$ | 0–2 [2] | 1–3 [4]$^3$ | 1–0 [2] | — | 0–2 [2] |
| United States | 1–1 [2] | 1–0 [2] | 1–1 [2] | 2–0 [2] | 1–1 [2] | 1–1 [2] | — |
Results from the neutral venue matches are as follows:
| Team 1 \ Team 2 | | | | | | | |
| Namibia | — | 2–0 [2] | 2–1 [3] | 2–0 [2] | 0–2 [2] | 0–2 [2] | 2–0 [2] |
| Nepal | — | — | 1–1 [2] | 4–0 [4]$^3$ | 0–2 [2] | —$^3$ | 1–1 [2] |
| Oman | — | — | — | 2–0 [2] | 0–2 [2] | —$^2$ | 2–0 [2] |
| Papua New Guinea | — | — | — | — | 0–2 [2] | 1–1 [2] | 0–2 [2] |
| Scotland | — | — | — | — | — | 1–1 [2] | 1–1 [2] |
| United Arab Emirates | — | — | — | — | — | — | 0–1 [2] |
| United States | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |

## Points table

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | L | T | NR | Pts | NRR | Qualification for |
| 1 | Scotland | 36 | 24 | 10 | 0 | 2 | 50 | 0.647 | 2023 Cricket World Cup Qualifier |
| 2 | Oman | 36 | 21 | 13 | 1 | 1 | 44 | 0.039 | 2023 Cricket World Cup Qualifier |
| 3 | Nepal | 36 | 19 | 15 | 1 | 1 | 40 | 0.101 | 2023 Cricket World Cup Qualifier |
| 4 | Namibia | 36 | 19 | 16 | 0 | 1 | 39 | 0.298 | 2023 Cricket World Cup Qualifier Play-off |
| 5 | United States | 36 | 16 | 17 | 2 | 1 | 35 | −0.040 | 2023 Cricket World Cup Qualifier Play-off |
| 6 | United Arab Emirates | 36 | 15 | 18 | 1 | 2 | 33 | −0.222 | 2023 Cricket World Cup Qualifier Play-off |
| 7 | Papua New Guinea | 36 | 5 | 30 | 1 | 0 | 11 | −0.792 | 2023 Cricket World Cup Qualifier Play-off |

## Statistics
### Most runs

| Batsman | Mat | Inns | NO | Runs | Ave | Strike rate | HS | 100s | 50s |
| Gerhard Erasmus | 34 | 33 | 3 | 1,298 | 43.26 | 77.91 | 121* | 1 | 11 |
| Assad Vala | 36 | 36 | 1 | 1,290 | 36.85 | 70.37 | 104 | 1 | 6 |
| Monank Patel | 35 | 35 | 2 | 1,219 | 36.93 | 80.30 | 130 | 2 | 8 |
| Aaron Jones | 31 | 31 | 3 | 1,184 | 42.29 | 72.59 | 123* | 1 | 8 |
| Jatinder Singh | 36 | 35 | 1 | 1,098 | 32.29 | 77.92 | 118* | 3 | 6 |
| Source: ESPNcricinfo ||||||||||

### Highest individual score

| Batsman | Runs | Balls | 4s | 6s | Opposition | Ground | Match date |
| Jean-Pierre Kotze | 136 | 109 | 11 | 8 | United States | Lauderhill | 20 September 2019 |
| Calum MacLeod | 133* | 144 | 13 | 2 | United States | Aberdeen | 17 August 2022 |
| Michael van Lingen | 133 | 137 | 9 | 5 | Nepal | Kathmandu | 14 February 2023 |
| Monank Patel | 130 | 101 | 11 | 6 | Oman | Pearland | 8 June 2022 |
| Craig Williams | 129* | 94 | 13 | 6 | Oman | Muscat | 8 January 2020 |
| Source: ESPNcricinfo ||||||||

### Most wickets

| Bowler | Mat | Inns | Wkts | Runs | Overs | BBI | Ave | Econ | SR | 4WI | 5WI |
| Bilal Khan | 35 | 35 | 76 | 1,419 | 298.4 | 5/31 | 18.67 | 4.75 | 23.5 | 3 | 3 |
| Sandeep Lamichhane | 31 | 30 | 72 | 1,142 | 282.0 | 6/16 | 15.86 | 4.04 | 23.5 | 5 | 2 |
| Saurabh Netravalkar | 35 | 34 | 58 | 1,234 | 298.3 | 5/32 | 21.27 | 4.13 | 30.8 | 1 | 2 |
| Mark Watt | 31 | 30 | 54 | 969 | 269.0 | 5/33 | 17.94 | 3.60 | 29.8 | 3 | 1 |
| Ruben Trumpelmann | 29 | 29 | 51 | 1,123 | 236.5 | 5/30 | 22.01 | 4.74 | 27.8 | 2 | 2 |
| Source: ESPNcricinfo ||||||||||||

### Best bowling figures in an innings

| Bowler | Wkts | Runs | Overs | Mdns | Econ | Opposition | Ground | Match date |
| Sandeep Lamichhane | 6 | 16 | 6 | 1 | 2.66 | United States | Kirtipur | 12 February 2020 |
| Tangeni Lungameni | 6 | 42 | 9 | 0 | 4.66 | Papua New Guinea | Windhoek | 23 November 2022 |
| Khawar Ali | 5 | 13 | 4.2 | 1 | 3.00 | Papua New Guinea | Muscat | 1 October 2021 |
| Basil Hameed | 5 | 17 | 6.2 | 0 | 2.68 | Oman | Muscat | 6 February 2022 |
| Riley Hekure | 5 | 20 | 8 | 1 | 2.50 | United Arab Emirates | Dubai | 5 March 2023 |
| Source: ESPNcricinfo |||||||||