England to begin men’s T20 World Cup campaign against West Indies
England will begin their men’s Twenty20 World Cup campaign against
West Indies with a rematch of the 2016 final, which was won by the Windies in dramatic fashion.
The side led by Eoin Morgan, above, are aiming to add the shorter format competition to the 50-over title they won in 2019. They were world T20 champions in 2010.
“The men’s T20 World Cup is going to be brilliant,” Morgan said via the
International Cricket Council.
“The standard of T20 cricket around the world is improving exponentially and every nation has a chance of becoming world champions,” the England
captain added. “It should be one of the closest and most competitive world tournaments to date and we can’t wait
to get started.”
England’s first game in Group One of the Super 12 stage takes place on 23 October in Dubai. Their second game takes place four days later in Abu Dhabi, against the runners-up from preliminary Group B – either Oman, Papua New Guinea, Scotland or Bangladesh.
Australia begin their campaign against South Africa and face England on 30 October in Dubai, with the upcoming Ashes series set to add more spice to that encounter. Two days later Morgan’s men will face the winners of preliminary Group A – one of Ireland, Netherlands, Sri Lanka or Namibia – in Sharjah.
A contest with South Africa at the same venue concludes England’s Super 12 campaign. Should they advance, the semi-finals are on 10 November in Abu Dhabi and 11 November in Dubai, with the final held in Dubai three days later. Group Two consists of India, Pakistan, New Zealand, Afghanistan and two qualifiers. The tournament, which was scheduled to take place in India but has been moved to the United Arab Emirates and Oman because of the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic, officially begins on 17 October with the preliminary group games.
Hosts Oman and Papua New Guinea have the honour of starting the tournament with a 2pm (10am GMT) Group B match on that day before Scotland and Bangladesh, the other sides in that group, do battle later in the evening at 6pm (2pm GMT).
Scotland also face Papua New Guinea on 19 October and take on Oman two days later, with the top two teams in the group going through to the Super 12 stage. In Group A, Ireland play the Netherlands on 18 October before facing Sri Lanka and Namibia.
Australia were set to host the T20 World Cup in 2020 but the outbreak of Covid-19 saw that tournament moved back two years, with the 2021 event remaining in its scheduled place. It has been five years since the last edition, when Carlos Brathwaite struck four consecutive sixes in the final over to help West Indies prevail in Kolkata.