2016 ICC World Twenty20: Tournament overview and schedule of India finals
Published:
Sam Barnard, Assistant Sports Editor | March 6, 2016
Unlike football, cricket has three high-profile forms of the game, meaning that fans of the sport these days only have to wait two years maximum for a World Cup to come around.
This year sees the 2016 ICC World Twenty20 finals in India, which gets underway on Tuesday, March 8th, while the inaugural World Test Championship is due to take place in 2017 in England.
T20 competition kicks off with qualifiers
Hong Kong (10/3 match chances with Coral) and former world force Zimbabwe (2/9 odds-on favourites) kick off the competition in qualifying Group B, with both aiming to get past the first stage of this event for the first time.
The southern Africans sit just one place above the Asian nation in the T20 rankings, but should be able to come through this clash with relative ease.
Rapidly rising cricketing country Afghanistan (1/3) and Scotland (9/4) make up the other two teams in the group, and the former are favourites having beaten the British outfit in all five of their previous T20 meetings.
Afghanistan are certainly in good form too, as they sit just one place behind powerhouse Australia in the rankings (in ninth) thanks to winning six of their last seven matches in this form of the game. They are decent 6/5 shouts to top the pool and thus qualify for the main event.
Group A is certainly the most competitive, as it features ICC full member Bangladesh, the Netherlands and Ireland, who have all reached the second stage of the World Twenty20 before. While, Oman have shown their worth in recent times too, ahead of their maiden finals.
Bangladesh (1/5) and the Netherlands (7/2) start their pool on Wednesday, March 9th, and the former are favourites due to their past record and status in the sport, as well as the Dutch not being the force they once were anymore.
Ireland (1/4) have more of a chance in the later fixture that day against group whipping boys Oman (3/1), as they aim to top the pool (4/1 shouts to do so).
If the Irish do, they’ve caused a shock or two in the past, including in the 50-over 2011 Cricket World Cup when they embarrassed England thanks to Kevin O’Brien’s record-breaking century. The former Surrey all-rounder is 6/1 to be top batsman for his team this tournament.
India and England feature early
In the main groups, meanwhile, hosts India begin their campaign on Tuesday, March 15th against World Cup finalists New Zealand in an intriguing match-up.
The top-ranked Men in Blue and 9/4 tournament favourites have been priced at 1/2 for the showdown in Nagpur, but snap up the Black Caps’ odds of 8/5 while you can as they have beaten the Indians in all four previous T20 meetings.
The following day, England (4/5) play their opening match of the 2016 World Twenty20 against the mercurial West Indies (evens), who have global star Chris Gayle (12/1 to be top tournament batsman) at their disposal.
Trevor Bayliss’ England, captained by Eoin Morgan (5/1 to get the most runs for his team), do have more strength in depth, though, and can rely on the likes of their skipper and Yorkshire star Joe Root (10/3) to see them through.
Read on to see who has made England’s squad, as well as the full tournament fixture list…
England World Twenty20 squad
Eoin Morgan – captain (Middlesex), Moeen Ali (Worcestershire), Sam Billings (Kent), Jos Buttler (Lancashire), Liam Dawson (Hampshire), Alex Hales (Nottinghamshire), Chris Jordan (Sussex), Liam Plunkett (Yorkshire), Adil Rashid (Yorkshire), Joe Root (Yorkshire), Jason Roy (Surrey), Ben Stokes (Durham), Reece Topley (Hampshire), James Vince (Hampshire), David Willey (Yorkshire).
World Twenty20 schedule
Group A
All matches to be played at Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association Stadium, Dharamsala
Bangladesh v Netherlands – March 9th (09:30 GMT)
Ireland v Oman – March 9th (14:00 GMT)
Oman v Netherlands – March 11th (09:30 GMT)
Bangladesh v Ireland – March 11th (14:00 GMT)
Ireland v Netherlands – March 13th (09:30 GMT)
Bangladesh v Oman – March 13th (14:00 GMT)
Group B
All matches to be played at Vidarbha Cricket Association Stadium, Nagpur
Hong Kong v Zimbabwe – March 8th (09:30 GMT)
Afghanistan v Scotland – March 8th (14:00 GMT)
Scotland v Zimbabwe – March 10th (09:30 GMT)
Afghanistan v Hong Kong – March 10th (14:00 GMT)
Afghanistan v Zimbabwe – March 12th (09:30 GMT)
Hong Kong v Scotland – March 12th (14:00 GMT)
Group 1
Top two teams will qualify for semi-finals
England v West Indies – March 16th (14:00 GMT)
Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai
Sri Lanka v Qualifier B – March 17th (14:00 GMT)
Eden Gardens, Kolkata
England v South Africa – March 18th (14:00 GMT)
Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai
South Africa v Qualifier B – March 20th (09:30 GMT)
Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai
Sri Lanka v West Indies – March 20th (14:00 GMT)
M. Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bangalore
England v Qualifier B – March 23rd (09:30 GMT)
Feroz Shah Kotla, Delhi
South Africa v West Indies – March 25th (14:00 GMT)
Vidarbha Cricket Association Stadium, Nagpur
England v Sri Lanka – March 26th (14:00 GMT)
Feroz Shah Kotla, Delhi
West Indies v Qualifier B – March 27th (09:30 BST)
Vidarbha Cricket Association Stadium, Nagpur
South Africa v Sri Lanka – March 28th (14:00 BST)
Feroz Shah Kotla, Delhi
Group 2
Top two teams will qualify for semi-finals
India v New Zealand – March 15th (14:00 GMT)
Vidarbha Cricket Association Stadium, Nagpur
Pakistan v Qualifier A – March 16th (09:30 GMT)
Eden Gardens, Kolkata
Australia v New Zealand – March 18th (09:30 GMT)
Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association Stadium, Dharamsala
India v Pakistan – March 19th (14:00 GMT)
Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association Stadium, Dharamsala
Australia v Qualifier A – March 21st (14:00 GMT)
M. Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bangalore
New Zealand v Pakistan – March 22nd (14:00 GMT)
Punjab Cricket Association Stadium, Mohali, Chandigarh
India v Qualifier A – March 23rd (14:00 GMT)
M. Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bangalore
Australia v Pakistan – March 25th (09:30 GMT)
Punjab Cricket Association Stadium, Mohali, Chandigarh
New Zealand v Qualifier A – March 26th (09:30 GMT)
Eden Gardens, Kolkata
India v Australia – March 27th (14:00 BST)
Punjab Cricket Association Stadium, Mohali, Chandigarh
Semi-finals
TBD v TBD – March 30th (13:30 BST)
Feroz Shah Kotla, Delhi
TBD v TBD – March 31st (13:30 BST)
Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai
Final
SF1 Winner v SF2 Winner – April 3rd (13:30 BST)
Eden Gardens, Kolkata
Related
For more cricketing content, check out our dedicated archive ahead of the 2016 World Twenty20 finals.
