The 1986 ICC Trophy was a limited-overs cricket tournament held in England between 11 June and 7 July 1986. It was the third ICC Trophy tournament to be staged, and as with the previous two tournaments, games between the 16 participating teams played over 60 overs a side and with white clothing and red balls. All matches except the final were played in the Midlands, but the final was held at Lord's, London.
The tournament served as the Cricket World Cup qualification process – Zimbabwe defeated the Netherlands to win their second ICC Trophy in a row and qualify for the 1987 World Cup. The weather was much better than the earlier competitions, and all matches were played to a result.
Competition format
The 16 teams were divided into two groups, one containing seven teams and one containing nine. Each teams played each other team in its group once in matches played between 16 June and 5 July, scoring four points for a win and two for a no-result (match started but not finished) or abandoned entirely without a ball being bowled. The top two teams in each group went forward to the semi-finals, the top team in each group playing team with the second-highest number of points in the other. Where teams finished with equal points totals, run rate was used to separate them.
Teams and squads
Group A: Argentina, Bangladesh, Denmark, East Africa, Kenya, Malaysia, Zimbabwe
Group B: Bermuda, Canada, Fiji, Gibraltar, Hong Kong, Israel, Netherlands, Papua New Guinea, USA
Group matches
Group A
11 June
In a match reduced to 50 overs a side, Denmark (221/7) easily defeated Argentina (100). Soren Henriksen made 56 for the Danes, while Ole Mortensen took 4-15. A fine knock of 135 by Andy Pycroft helped Zimbabwe to pile up 315/7 against Bangladesh who could manage only 171/8 in reply (Malcolm Jarvis 4-28). Meanwhile, 56 from P Banerji and 4-27 from DP John got Malaysia (142/8) through to a tight two-wicket victory over East Africa (140), despite DM Patel claiming 4-19.
13 June
58 from P Budin helped Malaysia to 226/9, but the real culprits were the Argentine bowlers, who sent down a staggering 26 wides in the innings; AH Gooding took 4-35 from six overs. In reply Argentina fell to 44/7 and DA Culley's 41 could do no more than delay the inevitable as they were bowled out for 88 to lose by 134 runs. The other match played on this date was much closer, Bangladesh successfully defending a small total of 143 (Minhajul Abedin 50) by bowling out Kenya for 134.
16 June
Denmark recovered from 20/2 to post a total of 274/7, with S Mikkelsen making 60, Ole Mortensen 59 and Soren Henriksen 50. In reply, East Africa could manage only 161, to lose by the large margin of 113 runs. Some excellent Zimbabwean bowling (Peter Rawson 9-3-16-3, John Traicos 10-2-19-3) saw them dismiss Kenya for 82, cruising to a seven-wicket triumph with more than half their overs remaining.
18 June
Argentina surprisingly reduced Zimbabwe to 98/5, but then a stand of 174 between Rawson (125) and Gary Wallace (77) saw the Africans through to a daunting 357/7. Argentina were never likely to threaten such a target, and so it proved as they were bowled out for 150 to lose by a massive 207 runs. In the other Group A game, Jahangir Shah took 4-37 for Bangladesh but could not stop Malaysia making 239 (Asgari Stevens 68, Yazid Imran 64); DP John took 5-40 as the Bangladeshis slid to a 57-run defeat despite Rafiqul Alam's 51.
20 June
Bangladesh made 162 against East Africa, with SM Lakha taking 4-31. In reply their opponents reached their target with only four wickets down, thanks largely to a stand of 125 for the third wicket between BR Bouri (66 not out) and FG Patel (53). 4-21 from England's future nemesis Eddo Brandes restricted Denmark to 146, a total which the Zimbabweans cruised past inside 35 overs, Grant Paterson making 86 not out. And 66 from Stevens helped Malaysia to 154, but it was insufficient as Kenya, 99/5 at one stage, recovered to win by five wickets.
23 June
Despite no player reaching fifty, East Africa's 261/8 was always likely to be too good for Argentina, and so it proved as the South Americans were dismissed 84 runs short for 177, A Kumar claiming 6-26. The other match on this day, playing in Leicestershire at Egerton Park, saw Malaysia bowled out for 89 by Zimbabwe (Brandes 4-13, Rawson 4-22) who reached their target with little drama for the loss of just two wickets.