 Kevin Pietersen in Twenty20 action against New Zealand |
England will launch next year's ICC World Twenty20 Cup by playing a qualifying nation at Lord's on 5 June. Paul Collingwood's side will then face Pakistan - the top seeds in their group - at The Oval on 7 June. But England will not know who their first opponents are until after the qualifying tournament in August, with two countries set to advance. Scotland and Kenya were the two qualifiers for the inaugural World Twenty20 Cup in South Africa in 2007. The top two teams from each of the four groups of three teams go through to the Super Eight phase and the top two from each of those groups then go through to the semi-finals. However, Zimbabwe, who are in a group with India and Bangladesh, could be banned from competing by the ICC, which is meeting on 2 July to discuss their involvement in international competition. The semi-finals will take place at Trent Bridge and The Oval respectively on 18 and 19 June with the final taking place at Lord's on 2 July.  | 606: DEBATE |
If teams play to their seedings, England would face South Africa, India and Australia in the space of five days in the Super Eight phase. The tournament will incorporate the ICC Twenty20 Women's World Cup, with most of the games in that competition being staged at Taunton. But the semi-finals and final will be held in conjunction with the men's event as double-headers at Trent Bridge, The Oval and Lord's.
Group fixtures and venues June 5 - England v associate member 1 (at Lord's)
June 6 - India v Bangladesh (Trent Bridge); New Zealand v associate member 2 and Australia v West Indies (The Oval)
June 7 - South Africa v associate member 2 and England v Pakistan (The Oval)
June 8 - Zimbabwe v Bangladesh and Australia v Sri Lanka (Trent Bridge)
June 9- Pakistan v associate member 1 and New Zealand v South Africa (Lord's)
June 10 - Sri Lanka v West Indies, India v Zimbabwe (Trent Bridge).
| 
E-mail this to a friend 
Printable version 
Bookmark with:
What are these?