Cricket: Dallas to host T20 World Cup opener

The opening game of cricket’s Twenty20 World Cup final will be held in Dallas with the final at the Kensington Oval in Barbados.

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The organisers of the competition made this announcement on Friday.

The expanded 20-team tournament is being jointly held by the United States and the West Indies and will get underway on June 1st at the Grand Prairie Cricket Stadium in Dallas. Texas, when the USA take on Canada.

A total of 16 games will be held in the United States, the first time that a major international cricket tournament is held in the country.

A new venue 30 miles east of downtown Manhattan will host the big clash between India and Pakistan on Sunday, June 9 — one of eight games to be held at the 34,000 stadium being built in Nassau County.

Lauderhill in South Florida, the most established cricket venue in the USA, will host games featuring India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka.

Defending champions England will begin their title defence on June 4th in Barbados against Scotlandand 2022 finalists, Pakistan, will get underway when they play the USA in Dallas.

England will go up against traditional rivals Australiain Barbados on June 8th.

The 20 teams have been divided into four groups of five, with the top two teams progressing to the ‘Super Eights’.

The Super Eight games will all be held in the Caribbean – in Antigua and Barbuda, Barbados, Saint Lucia and Saint Vincent and the Grenadines.

The two top teams from each group in the Super Eight will progress to the semi-finals, which will be held in Guyana and Trinidad and Tobago on June 26th-27th. The final will be held in Barbados on June 29th.

Group stage draw:

Group A: India, Pakistan, Ireland, Canada, USA

Group B: England, Australia, Namibia, Scotland, Oman

Group C: New Zealand, West Indies, Afghanistan, Uganda, Papua New Guinea

Group D: South Africa, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Netherlands, Nepal