WC Qualifiers: Afghanistan sneaks in courtesy Nepal's win

The six teams which will compete in the Super Sixes of the World Cup Qualifiers have been confirmed.

Afghanistan kept its hopes of reaching next year's World Cup alive, thanks to Nepal's win over Hong Kong.

All the big teams featuring in the ICC World Cup Qualifiers 2018 have sealed their places in the Super Sixes by finishing in the top three in their respective groups.

West Indies, Ireland and United Arab Emirates, in that order, are the teams which have qualified from Group A, while in Group B, host Zimbabwe, Ireland and Afghanistan have progressed.

Afghanistan had been the team in danger of being knocked out at the group stage, which will have been a major shock. Its only victory came against Nepal and with two points from four matches, Afghanistan wasn't in control of its destiny.

Going into the final day of the group-stage matches, Afghanistan needed Nepal to beat Hong Kong. Nepal won by five wickets on Monday (March 12) and Afghanistan's vastly better net run rate (+0.038) helped it progress at the expense of Nepal and Hong Kong, which had the same points (two). 

Also on Monday, Zimbabwe and Scotland were involved in a gripping contest which ended in a tie, while Ireland crushed United Arab Emirates by 226 runs (D/L).

West Indies was the only team to win all its group matches and is the in-form team ahead of the Super Sixes, which get underway on Thursday (March 15).

Read: Big-hitting Windies blows Netherlands away in stormy conditions

Super Sixes rules

- Teams from the same group will not face each other in the Super Sixes

- West Indies (four wins), Zimbabwe (three wins), Scotland (three wins), and Ireland (three wins, one defeat) carry four, three, three, and two points, respectively, into the Super Sixes, giving them a sizeable advantage to finish in the top two at the end of this stage

- Finishing in the top two will seal the teams' places at next year's World Cup finals, though a final will be played to determine the winner

What's at stake for the other six teams?

The teams which finished in the bottom two will play the playoffs — Group A4 vs Group B5, Group B4 vs Group A5 — on the same day the Super Sixes get underway. The winners from these playoff matches will play the seventh-eighth position playoff and the losers will play the ninth-tenth positions playoff.