South Africa have been pooled with England, India and Afghanistan for next year’s T20 World Cup in Australia.
South Africa’s first match will be against India at Perth Stadium on 24 October. Six days later they will play the English at the Sydney Cricket Ground, and the Afghanistanis at the Adelaide Oval 48 hours after that. Fixtures against two qualifying teams will follow.
‘We’re excited to be able to let fans all around Australia and the world know when and where their teams will play, so they can start planning now,’ said International Cricket Council T20 World Cup Australia 2020 local organising committee chief executive officer Nick Hockley.
‘World Cups are all about bringing people together. We know that passionate fans of all generations and cultures will travel from near and far to support their teams, and that they will receive the warmest of welcomes in our wonderful host cities.
‘Putting on events of this scale are a big team effort and we would like to thank all our valued partners for making sure that the T20 World Cup is not only a spectacular celebration in 2020, but that it leaves a lasting positive impact.’
International Cricket Council chief executive officer David Richardson added: ‘Whenever we host an event in Australia we know we can guarantee the one billion cricket fans around the world a great show.
‘The world’s best players. Outstanding venues. Noisy, passionate, knowledgeable fans. Exciting cricket. This is the perfect combination for a T20 World Cup, and in 2020 we go one step further with two T20 World Cups in one year.’
The men’s and women’s T20 World Cups will be hosted as standalone events, rather than concurrently, for the first time. The women’s event will be played from 21 February to 8 March. The men’s competition will run from 18 October to 15 November. Both finals will be played at the Melbourne Cricket Ground.
‘To hold two T20 World Cup finals at the world’s largest cricket stadium in front of 92,000 people, with hundreds of millions more watching around the world is a particularly exciting prospect as we look to grow the fans around the world and make 2020 the year of cricket,’ added Richardson.
The Proteas’ Women’s campaign will start against India.
Men’s groups
Group 1: Pakistan, Australia, West Indies, New Zealand, First round group A team 1, qualifier 1, qualifier 2.
Group 2: India, England, South Africa, Afghanistan, qualifier 1, qualifier 2.
Women’s groups
Group A: Australia, New Zealand, India, Sri Lanka, qualifier 1.
Group B: England, West Indies, South Africa, Pakistan, qualifier 2.
Photo: Gallo
