The tournament starts on October 17; Super 12s begin on October 23 with Australia vs South Africa and England vs West Indies
The Super 12s – round two of the tournament, with two groups – will begin on October 23, with Australia facing South Africa in Abu Dhabi and England up against West Indies in Dubai. India vs Pakistan aside, another big-ticket encounter in this round includes England and Australia playing in Dubai on October 30. England and Australia are part of Group 1 in the Super 12s, along with South Africa, West Indies and two qualifiers from the first round of games. India and Pakistan are in Group 2, along with New Zealand, Afghanistan and two qualifiers.
The top-two teams from the two Super 12 groups will play the semi-finals. The first on November 10 in Abu Dhabi and the second on November 11 in Dubai. Like the final, both the semi-finals will have reserve days.
The tournament’s first round features Sri Lanka, Ireland, Netherlands and Namibia in Group A, and Bangladesh, Scotland, PNG and Oman in Group B. Oman and UAE are co-hosts for the tournament, with the first round being played in Oman, Abu Dhabi and Sharjah. The second round is spread around the three UAE venues of Abu Dhabi, Sharjah and Dubai.
Daren Sammy, the two-time T20 World Cup-winning West Indies captain who unveiled the schedule in a virtual function on Tuesday along with Dinesh Karthik and Isa Guha, told T20worldcup.com that he expected West Indies to grab the most attention at the tournament.
“But, in this stage, every team looking at the group stages would be thinking, ‘Wow, you got to start well’. And I expect England and West Indies to come out of that group [Group 1 in the Super 12s]. [I predict that the team] that tops this group gets to the final.”
Karthik said he expected Group 2 in the Super 12s to be highly competitive as well: “If five Asian teams come through and you have New Zealand there… that’s a tougher group; I am looking forward to some high-octane action.
“It’s going to be close call for me between Pakistan and New Zealand [with India being the other team to get through from Group 2 to the semis]. My heart says I would love to see a Pakistan there, but New Zealand find ways to always punch above their weight. They are a pretty well-rounded team with a great leader in Kane Williamson.”