The ICC has announced the groups and fixtures for the 2024 T20 World Cup. The tournament, co-hosted across the USA and the Caribbean, will feature 20 teams, 55 matches and be played over 29 days between 1st and 29th June.
The first round will see all twenty teams play in four groups of five between 1st and 17th June. Forty games will be played during the seventeen days, featuring eight days of triple-header action, and a further seven double headers. The top two in each group will progress to the Super Eights stage, where two groups of four will take place over six days. The top two will then progress to the semi-finals and final, with the tournament concluding on Sunday 29th June.
A total of 16 games will be played in the USA, all during the first round. Lauderhill in Florida and Grand Prairie Stadium in Texas will host four games each. A temporary venue at Eisenhower Park, New York will host a total of eight games. The remaining 39 games, including the Super Eights, semi-finals and finals will be hosted across six venues in the Caribbean.
The opening game of the tournament will be an all-associate clash, as co-hosts USA take on Canada in Texas, reviving the oldest rivalry in international sport dating back to 1844. The co-hosts and their northern neighbours have been grouped with two titans of the world game in India and Pakistan, with Ireland completing their group. This sets up a number of profile-raising contests for the USA cricket community, providing a platform on which to grow the game in North America.
The USA stay in Texas for the second game, against Pakistan. They then play India in New York, before finishing their group stage against Ireland in Florida. Canada, meanwhile, play both Ireland and Pakistan in New York, before rounding out the first round against India, also in Florida.
Each group features at least two associate nations, with group B containing three. Scotland, Namibia and Oman will compete with England and Australia in the second group, played across Barbados, Antigua and Saint Lucia. Namibia and Oman will play the opening game of the group on the second day of the tournament. Scotland will open their campaign against neighbours England. Oman play Australia, and Scotland play Namibia in Barbados, before the teams decamp to Antigua. Here, Oman play Scotland and England, and Namibia play Australia and England. The final group game is in St Lucia, where Scotland face Australia.
Group C features co-hosts West Indies, New Zealand, Afghanistan, Papua New Guinea, and Uganda, and will be played in Guyana, Trinidad and Saint Lucia. Papua New Guinea went winless at their only T20 World Cup appearance to date in 2021, whilst Uganda are making their tournament debut. One side is guaranteed to come away with their first World Cup win by 5th June, when the two teams meet in Guyana. The Barramundis play West Indies in their opening fixture, on 2nd June, with Uganda playing Afghanistan the following day.
USA vs Canada contested the first ever international cricket match back in 1844 – they’ll kick off this year’s #T20WorldCup in Dallas 🇺🇸🇨🇦
👉 https://t.co/Zuu0GU6hl6 pic.twitter.com/aVfOntoS6X
— ESPNcricinfo (@ESPNcricinfo) January 5, 2024
Uganda play a third fixture in Guyana, against hosts West Indies, before completing their group against New Zealand in Trinidad. PNG play their final two first round games in Trinidad, against Afghanistan and then New Zealand.
Which finally leaves Group D, pitting Netherlands and Nepal against South Africa, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh in arguably the most competitive group of the first round. Netherlands and Nepal meet in their opening fixture, to be played in Texas, on 4th June. Each side plays one more game in the USA, Nepal vs Sri Lanka in Florida, and Netherlands vs South Africa in New York. The teams then move to the Caribbean for their final contests. Nepal play two games in St. Vincent – against South Africa and Bangladesh – whilst Netherlands play both in St. Vincent against Bangladesh, and then St Lucia against Sri Lanka. It makes the Netherlands the only team other than Sri Lanka to play at four different venues during the first round.
None of the associate teams have been seeded, so any side that reaches the Super 8s will inherit the seeding, and schedule, of the seeded team they eliminate. The Super 8s are played between the 19th and 24th June, at four venues: Antigua, Barbados, Saint Lucia and Saint Vincent. The two semi finals are hosted by Trinidad and Guyana, before the final takes place in Barbados on 29th June.
You’re reading Emerging Cricket — brought to you by a passionate group of volunteers with a vision for cricket to be a truly global sport, and a mission to inspire passion to grow the game.
Be sure to check out our homepage for all the latest news, please subscribe for regular updates, and follow EC on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn and YouTube.
Don’t know where to start? Check out our features list, country profiles, and subscribe to our podcast. Support us from US$2 a month — and get exclusive benefits, by becoming an EC Patron.
