Co-hosts Windies draw New Zealand in T20I World Cup
Rejuvenated Caribbean side handed a generous draw in June’s prestigious tournament
The West Indies, fresh from back-to-back white-ball format series triumphs over England, should feel confident ahead of the 2024 T20I World Cup.
They have been drawn in Group C alongside ever-improving Afghanistan, giants New Zealand, Papua New Guinea and first-time qualifiers Uganda.
Their mouth-watering clash with New Zealand is set to take place at the Brian Lara Cricket Academy in Trinidad & Tobago on 12 June.
Both the Caribbean and United States will play co-host, with 20 nations divided into four groups of five. The top two teams from each group will progress to the Super Eights before the knockout stages of the semi-finals.
Defending champions England face Australia, Namibia, Oman and Scotland in Group B. While Canada, India, Ireland, Pakistan and the US face each other in Group A. Group C comprises Bangladesh, Nepal, Netherlands, South Africa and Sri Lanka.
The grand opening match is an all-North American contest, when the US will tackle Canada at the Grand Prairie Cricket Stadium in Dallas on 1 June.
The following day the Windies start their campaign, when they play Papua New Guinea inside the Guyana National Stadium.
The Super Eight group matches are scheduled to be contested on the Caribbean islands of Antigua & Barbuda, Barbados, St. Lucia and St. Vincent and the Grenadines.
Those two top teams from each Super Eight group will progress to the semi-finals, to be held in Guyana (26 June) and Trinidad & Tobago (27 June), with the final set for the Kensington Oval in Barbados on 29 June.
Barbados has in recent years been a happy haunting ground for the Windies in one-day formats, so if the Caribbean side can reach the final they will consider themselves favourites to be crowned champions.
2024 T20I WORLD CUP FIXTURES IN JUNE
1st USA v Canada (Dallas)
2nd Namibia v Oman, Barbados
WEST INDIES v Papua New Guinea (Guyana)
3rd Afghanistan v Uganda (Guyana)
Sri Lanka v South Africa (New York)
4th England v Scotland (Barbados)
Netherlands v Nepal (Dallas)
5th Australia v Oman (Barbados)
India v Ireland (New York)
Papua New Guinea v Uganda (Guyana)
6th Namibia v Scotland (Barbados)
USA v Pakistan (Dallas)
7th Canada v Ireland (New York)
New Zealand v Afghanistan (Guyana)
Sri Lanka v Bangladesh (Dallas)
8th Australia v England, Barbados
Netherlands v South Africa (New York)
WEST INDIES v Uganda (Guyana)
9th India v Pakistan (New York)
Oman v Scotland (Antigua)
10th South Africa v Bangladesh (New York)
11th Australia v Namibia (Antigua)
Pakistan v Canada (New York)
Sri Lanka v Nepal (Lauderhill)
12th WEST INDIES v New Zealand (Trinidad & Tobago)
USA v India (New York)
13th Afghanistan v Papua New Guinea (Trinidad & Tobago)
Bangladesh v Netherlands (St. Vincent)
England v Oman (Antigua)
14th New Zealand v Uganda (Trinidad & Tobago)
South Africa v Nepal (St. Vincent)
USA v Ireland (Lauderhill)
15th Australia v Scotland (St. Lucia)
India v Canada (Lauderhill)
Namibia v England (Antigua)
16th Bangladesh v Nepal (St. Vincent)
Pakistan v Ireland (Lauderhill)
Sri Lanka v Netherlands (St. Lucia)
17th New Zealand v Papua New Guinea (Trinidad & Tobago)
WEST INDIES v Afghanistan (St. Lucia)
SUPER EIGHT STAGE
GROUP 1 | Group A winner, Group B runner-up, Group C winner, Group D runner-up
GROUP 2 | Group A runner-up, Group B winner, Group C runner-up, Group D winner
19th A2 v D1 (Antigua), B1 v C2 (St. Lucia)
20th C1 v A1 (Barbados), B2 v D2 (Antigua)
21th A2 v C2, (Barbados), B1 v D1 (St. Lucia)
22nd A1 v D2 (Antigua), C1 v B2 (St, Vincent)
23th A2 v B1 (Barbados), C2 v D1 (Antigua)
24th B2 v A1 (St. Lucia), C1 v D2 (St. Lucia)
KNOCKOUT STAGES
26th Semi-final, Group 1 winner v Group 2 runner-up (Guyana)27th Second semi-final: Group 2 winner v Group 1 runner-up (Trinidad &Tobago)
29th Final (Barbados)
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