Eight associate nations to lock horns in Desert T20 Tournament

Dubai, 1 Jan (CRICKETNMORE) The Emirates Cricket Board on Saturday announced a new T20 tournament, with eight Associate nations locking horns from January 14 to 20 at Abu Dhabi's Zayed Cricket Stadium with the semi-finals and final slated to be held here.

Apart from hosts UAE, Afghanistan, Hong Kong, Ireland, Namibia, Netherlands, Oman and Scotland will take part in the competition, named the Desert T20 Tournament, which will be played in a round-robin and knockout format, according to a espncricinfo report.

"The aim of the tournament is to provide an opportunity for our teams to play more competitive men's T20 cricket," Zayed Abbas, Emirates Cricket Board member, said.

"Each of the participating countries are very close in ICC T20I rankings, so we expect the quality of cricket to be very strong."

The tournament kicks-off with Scotland facing Hong Kong followed by Afghanistan taking on Ireland on January 14 in Abu Dhabi.