ICC Men's T20 World Cup 2024 all set to begin
Cricket
20 teams are competing across 55 games for T20 World Cup 2024 crown
- The mega cricket event is being played in the USA and the West Indies
- Pakistan will play their first game against the host USA on June 6 and against India on June 9
DALLAS, US (Web Desk) - The ninth edition of the ICC Men's T20 World Cup is starting today (June 1).
The West Indies and USA will host the ultimate prize in T20 cricket, with the event featuring 20 teams competing across 55 games for the right to be crowned ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2024 champions.
The 2024 T20 World Cup will begin today with co-hosts USA taking on Canada in the first game and will run till June 29. The first match will be held at Grand Prairie Stadium in Dallas while the final will be played in Bridgetown in Barbados.
This will be the first time that the USA will play host a major ICC tournament. The West Indies have hosted two men's World Cups before - one 50-over edition in 2007 and a T20 World Cup in 2010. Two women's T20 world cups have also been held in the Caribbean.
The 2024 T20 World Cup will be played across nine venues. Apart from Dallas and Bridgetown, there will be matches in Providence, New York, Lauderhill, North Sound, Gros Islet, Kingstown and Tarouba.
While the bulk of the tournament will be played out in the Caribbean, 16 group stage games in the 20-team tournament will be played on American soil, including the highlight of the group stage -- a clash between India and Pakistan due to be played in Long Island, New York.
The rest of the tournament will be held in the West Indies, including the Super Eight stage, the semi-finals and the final, which will be played at Kensington Oval in Bridgetown, Barbados.
While cricket is widely played at a recreational level in the United States, with strong presences in all three of the states that have been chosen for games, organisers are realistic about the chances of "converting" mainstream American sports fans.
There are 20 T20 World Cup teams this year, the most in the history of the tournament.
Apart from the hosts the West Indies and the USA, the eight best-placed teams from the 2022 edition also gained automatic qualification - England, Pakistan, India, New Zealand, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Australia and the Netherlands.
Afghanistan and Bangladesh also gained automatic qualification through their place in the men's T20I team rankings.
Ireland and Scotland made it through the European qualifier, while Canada won the Americas qualifier. Nepal and Oman progressed from the Asia qualifier, while Namibia and Uganda were the two qualifying teams from Africa. Papua New Guinea won the East Asia-Pacific qualifier.
FOUR GROUPS
The 20 teams have been divided into four groups of five teams each. Each team plays each other once with the top two sides from each group making it to the Super Eight stage, where there will be two groups of four teams each. The top two teams from these groups will progress to the semi-final.
Teams have been allotted pre-decided seedings for the first round and they will retain those for the Super Eight stage, provided they qualify.
For example, if D1 (the top seed) and D2 (the second seed) qualify from group D, and D2 top the group, D2 will not be given the D1 slot in the Super Eight stage despite topping the group.
They will continue with the pre-decided fixtures in Super Eight that have been scheduled for D2.
But if, say, D3 or D4 qualify in place of, say, D1, the qualified team will replace D1 in the Super Eight.
If D3 and D4 both qualify, then the group topper will play D1's fixtures and the team that finishes second will be allotted D2's matches.
The fixtures for the Super Eight stage, starting June 19, are already listed with the teams' seedings.
Once the eight teams are known, they will be grouped in Super Eight as follows: Group 1 will feature A1, B2, C1, D2, while Group 2 will have A2, B1, C2 and D1. No points will be carried forward from the first round to the second.
A Super Over will decide every tied match, and if that ends in a tie, there will be another Super Over and so on until a result is achieved.
WHAT IF THERE IS RAIN?
In case of rain or bad weather in the group stage and Super Eight matches, each team will have to be able to bat at least five overs for a result to be declared.
However, as was the case in the previous edition, the two semi-finals and the final will need each team to be able to bat a minimum of ten overs for a result to be possible.
The first semi-final and the final have reserve days but the second semi-final doesn't, as there is only a day's gap between that match and the final.
A total of 250 minutes of additional time is available for each semi-final. The first semi-final, on June 26, will have an extra 60 minutes at the end of the day's play and a further 190 minutes the next day on June, starting from 2pm local time.
The second semi-final, on June 27, will have 250 minutes available on the scheduled day since it doesn't have a reserve day.
The final has a reserve day on June 30, with the hours of play scheduled for 10.30am local time, and a maximum of 190 minutes extra on both days.
In case of the first semi-final and the final, if the match is shortened (say, to ten overs per side) and it starts on the scheduled day but cannot be completed that day because of weather interruptions, it will resume on the reserve day as the same shortened game from where play was abandoned on the previous day.
If weather conditions do not allow a semi-final to be completed, the team that finished first in their group in the Super Eight stage will progress to the final. The same rule will be applicable if the Super Over after a tied semi-final is also not possible because of poor weather.
If the final (or the Super Over after a tied final) is abandoned because of poor weather, the two teams will be declared joint winners.
PREVIOUS WINNERS
Seven teams have previously won the men's T20 World Cup.
India won the inaugural edition in 2007, while West Indies and England are the only teams to win it twice. England are also the defending champions.
Here is the full list of winners:
2007 - India
2009 - Pakistan
2010 - England
2012 - West Indies
2014 - Sri Lanka
2016 - West Indies
2021 - Australia
2022 – England
GROUP STAGE SCHEDULE:
Date Match Venue
June 1 USA vs Canada Dallas
June 2 West Indies vs Papua New Guinea Guyana
June 2 Namibia vs Oman Barbados
June 3 Sri Lanka vs South Africa New York
June 4 Afghanistan vs Uganda Guyana
June 4 England vs Scotland Barbados
June 4 Netherlands vs Nepal Dallas
June 5 India vs Ireland New York
June 5 Papua New Guinea vs Uganda Guyana
June 5 Australia vs Oman Barbados
June 6 USA vs Pakistan Dallas
June 6 Namibia vs Scotland Barbados
June 7 Canada vs Ireland New York
June 7 New Zealand vs Afghanistan Guyana
June 7 Sri Lanka vs Bangladesh Dallas
June 8 Netherlands vs South Africa New York
June 8 Australia vs England Barbados
June 8 West Indies vs Uganda Guyana
June 9 India vs Pakistan New York
June 9 Oman vs Scotland Antigua & Barbuda
June 10 South Africa vs Bangladesh New York
June 11 Pakistan vs Canada New York
June 11 Sri Lanka vs Nepal Lauderhill
June 11 Australia vs Namibia Antigua & Barbuda
June 12 USA vs India New York
June 12 West Indies vs New Zealand Trinidad and Tobago
June 13 England vs Oman Antigua & Barbuda
June 13 Bangladesh vs Netherlands Saint Vincent and the Grenadines
June 13 Afghanistan vs Papua New Guinea Trinidad and Tobago
June 14 USA vs Ireland Lauderhill
June 14 South Africa vs Nepal Saint Vincent and the Grenadines
June 14 New Zealand vs Uganda Trinidad and Tobago
June 15 India vs Canada Lauderhill
June 15 Namibia vs England Antigua & Barbuda
June 15 Australia vs Scotland Saint Lucia
June 16 Pakistan vs Ireland Lauderhill
June 16 Bangladesh vs Nepal Saint Vincent and the Grenadines
June 16 Sri Lanka vs Netherlands Saint Lucia
June 17 New Zealand vs Papua New Guinea Trinidad and Tobago
June 17 West Indies vs Afghanistan Saint Lucia
SUPER 8 SCHEDULE:
Date Match Venue
June 19 A2 vs D1 Antigua & Barbuda
June 19 B1 vs C2 Saint Lucia
June 20 C1 vs A1 Barbados
June 20 B2 vs D2 Antigua & Barbuda
June 21 B1 vs D1 Saint Lucia
June 21 A2 vs C2 Barbados
June 22 A1 vs D2 Antigua & Barbuda
June 22 C1 vs B2 Saint Vincent and the Grenadines
June 23 A2 vs B1 Barbados
June 23 C2 vs D1 Antigua & Barbuda
June 24 B2 vs A1 Saint Lucia
June 24 C1 vs D2 Saint Vincent and the Grenadines
KNOCKOUTS:
June 26 Semifinal 1 Guyana
June 27 Semifinal 2 Trinidad and Tobago
June 29 Final Barbados
