Mumbai: Hosts and inaugural champions India will kick off the Super 10 stage of the World Twenty20 with a March 15 match in Nagpur against New Zealand in the sixth edition of the tournament offering a record $5.6 million in prize money.
Mumbai and New Delhi will host the two semi-finals while Kolkata’s Eden Gardens will stage the final of the March 8-April 3 tournament, to be played across eight venues in India, the International Cricket Council (ICC) said yesterday.
Defending men’s champions Sri Lanka have been placed in Group One of the Super 10 stage along with South Africa, 2010 winners England, 2012 champions West Indies and a qualifier.
Group Two will include India, 2009 champions Pakistan, Australia, New Zealand and a second qualifier.
“We, as hosts, are fully prepared to organise one of the most entertaining spectacles in world cricket,” Indian board (BCCI) secretary Anurag Thakur said at the launch ceremony.
“India has hosted World Cups in 1987, 1996 and 2011. We can assure you this time it will be bigger, better and most entertaining.”
Eight teams have been split into two groups for the qualifying stage from March 8-13.
Two of them will progress to the Super 10 stage of the event, which will see a 86 percent jump in total prize money for the men’s competition from the last edition in Bangladesh in 2014.
The total prize money for the women’s event, to be played simultaneously with the men’s, is $400,000, a 122 percent increase from the previous tournament.
Bitter neighbours India and Pakistan, who have been wrangling over a bilateral series this month, will clash in a March 19 contest in picturesque Dharamsala, against the backdrop of Northern Indian mountains.
“We need a cooler climate for such a high-voltage contest,” Thakur quipped.
ICC Chairman Shashank Manohar promised a successful tournament in the game’s financial powerhouse.
“India is a country where cricket is a religion and not many places can match the passion for the game like (in) India,” said Manohar, who is also the BCCI president.
“I am fully confident that the BCCI will deliver an outstanding world cricket event.”
2016 WORLD TWENTY20 FIXTURES
1st round (group winners to progress to 2nd round)
Group A: Bangladesh, Netherlands, Ireland and Oman
Group B: Zimbabwe, Scotland, Hong Kong, Afghanistan
Second round groups
Super 10 Group 1: Sri Lanka, South Africa, West Indies, England and winner group B
Super 10 Group 2: India, Pakistan, Australia, New Zealand and winner group A
Tournament schedule
First round:
March 8: Zimbabwe v Hong Kong, Nagpur; Scotland v Afghanistan, Nagpur
March 9: Bangladesh v Netherlands, Dharamsala; Ireland v Oman, Dharamsala
March 10: Scotland v Zimbabwe, Nagpur; Hong Kong v Afghanistan, Nagpur
March 11: Netherlands v Oman, Dharamsala; Bangladesh v Ireland, Dharamsala
March 12: Zimbabwe v Afghanistan, Nagpur; Scotland v Hong Kong, Nagpur Q1A
March 13: Netherlands v Ireland, Dharamsala; Bangladesh v Oman, Dharamsala Q1B
Super 10:
March 15: New Zealand v India, Nagpur
March 16: West Indies v England, Mumbai; Pakistan v Q1A, Kolkata
March 17: Sri Lanka v Q1B, Kolkata
March 18: Australia v New Zealand, Dharamsala; South Africa v England, Mumbai
March 19: India v Pakistan, Dharamsala
March 20: South Africa v Q1B, Mumbai; Sri Lanka v West Indies, Bengaluru
March 21: Australia v Q1A, Bengaluru
March 22: New Zealand v Pakistan, Mohali
March 23: England v Q1B, New Delhi; India v Q1A, Bengaluru
March 25 - Pakistan v Australia, Mohali; South Africa v West Indies, Nagpur
March 26 - Q1A v New Zealand, Kolkata; England v Sri Lanka, New Delhi
March 27 - India v Australia, Mohali; Q1B v West Indies Nagpur
March 28 - South Africa v Sri Lanka, New Delhi
March 30 - Semi-final (Super 10 Group 1 2nd v Super 10 Group 2 1st), New Delhi
March 31 - Semi-final (Super 10 Group 1 1st v Super 10 Group 2 2nd), Mumbai
April 3 - Final, Kolkata
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