T20 World Cup: WI to confront familiar foes

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (CMC):

Reigning champions West Indies have been grouped with familiar recent rivals for the Super 12s opening stage of the Twenty20 World Cup set for United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Oman.

In the group assignments announced yesterday by the International Cricket Council, the Caribbean side were installed in Group One with 2016 losing finalists England, along with South Africa and Australia.

The group will be completed by the top-ranked side from Group A and the second place finishers in Group B of the qualifiers which precede the tournament proper.

Group Two, meanwhile, comprises powerhouses India, Pakistan, New Zealand, Afghanistan, and the respective nations from the Group A and B qualifiers.

The groups were determined on the basis of ICC T20 team rankings as of March 20 this year.

West Indies and Australia will renew their rivalry in the group stage of the T20 World Cup.

“There are some great match ups offered by the groups and it starts to bring the event to life for our fans as our first multi-team event since the onset of the global pandemic draws closer,” said acting ICC chief executive, Geoff Allardice.

“Given the disruption caused by COVID-19, we selected the cut-off date as close as possible to the event to ensure we were able to include the maximum amount of cricket in the rankings which determine the groups.

“There is no doubt we will witness some highly competitive cricket when the event gets under way in just three months.”

NO SURPRISES FROM AUSTRALIA AND SOUTH AFRICA

Australia and South Africa will present no surprises for West Indies, especially after the star-studded side hosted both teams in recent five-match series.

The Kieron Pollard-led unit crashed to a 3-2 defeat to the South Africans in a series staged at the Grenada National Stadium while Nicholas Pooran, standing in for the injured Pollard, presided over a series success against the Aussies at the Daren Sammy National Stadium in St Lucia.

However, West Indies have faced England only four times since the 2016 final, winning only once.

The T20 World Cup is scheduled for October 17 to November 14 in UAE and Oman, after organisers were forced to switch the showpiece from India due to the country’s deadly COVID-19 wave.

“There is nothing that separates the two groups as both are packed with sides that are highly competitive in the shortest format of the game,” said the secretary of Board of Control for Cricket in India, Jay Shah.

Sri Lanka, the 2012 champions, headline the eight-team qualifiers which will see Bangladesh, Ireland, Netherlands, Namibia, Oman, Papua New Guinea and Scotland vying for the four available spots.