【bet365】2016 ICC Twenty20 World Cup: Let the Bowling & Batting Begin!

The twenty-overs-a-side format was introduced in 2003 by the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) for tournaments played within the UK. In a few years, it surpassed one-days and test matches in pulling more spectators and presenting close and thrilling finishes. Some critics branded this cricket as “pure entertainment that has nothing to do with the ideals of cricket”. But a little more than 15 years after its inception, everyone has accepted it as the most popular form of cricket. Leagues were introduced by many countries such as Big Bash (Australia), IPL (India), and most recently PSL (Pakistan), which has helped in promoting cricket in new countries such as the USA. Then there is the ICC Twenty20 World Cup, which is much like the football’s version of the World Cup.

Last Edition

The fifth T20 World Cup was played from the 16th of March to the 6th of April in 2014 in Bangladesh after been chosen to host by the ICC in 2010. 16 countries participated in the tournament with 31 matches played. India, which qualified for the finals without facing a single defeat, squared off against Sri Lanka in the decisive final. India batted first and scored 130 runs at the loss of 4 wickets. Sri Lanka responded by performing extremely well en route to beating India by 6 wickets in front of more than 25,000 spectators at Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium in Mirpur. As a consolation prize for India, star Virat Kohli was awarded the Man of the Series award as he scored the highest runs (319) in the tournament.

2016

India will for the first time host the 2016 ICC T20 World Cup that will be played from the 8th of March 2016 to the 3rd of April. Once again there are 16 teams participating for the ultimate prize — the Nissan T20 World Cup trophy. It is the third consecutive time that a country from the South Asian subcontinent is hosting this event after Sri Lanka (2012) and Bangladesh (2014).

There was some controversy early on as Shehryar Khan, chairman of the PCB (Pakistan Cricket Board), remarked in October 2015 that the Pakistani team might pull out if India didn’t co-host a tournament with Pakistan. Everything seems to be settled now as the Pakistani team has received clearance from their government to visit India to participate in the event.

Host Country & Venues

India is known for its flat and greyish pitches that offer better conditions for batting. The bounce off the pitch remains low and also doesn’t offer much pace. The dew factor is very influential in the outcome of matches and as a result, the players will need to practice power hitting before coming into the matches. The matches will be played in seven different stadiums in cities including Kolkata, Mumbai, and New Delhi. The list of stadiums hosting the matches is:

Teams, Squads & Officials

The top 10 teams in the ICC rankings automatically qualified for the tournament with the other six associate teams gaining a spot through their performance at the 2015 ICC T20 World Qualifiers.

Of the top 10 teams, the top eight were given direct promotion to the group stages while Bangladesh and Zimbabwe will play qualifiers with the associate teams for the remaining two slots.

All the teams have already announced a squad of 15 players that will take part in this year’s World Cup with many teams including Pakistan, the West Indies, and New Zealand making multiple changes to their respective squads due to injuries or bad performance in recent matches.

The match referees and umpires who will supervise the matches have also been confirmed. For the first time in an international cricket men’s World Cup, female umpires (Claire Polosak, Australia and Kathy Cross, New Zealand) will fulfil on-field supervising roles.

List of match referees:

List of umpires:

Tournament Schedule

Warm-up matches

The warm-up matches are currently being played from the 3rd to the 15th of March between all the participating teams and one domestic team from India (Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association XI).

Group stage (Super 10)

• Round 1: Qualifiers
  The teams playing the qualifiers are divided into two groups and one team from each group will qualify for the main fixtures round. Group A will see a close fight between Bangladesh, Ireland, and the Netherlands while Oman is playing for the first time. Zimbabwe, Afghanistan, and Scotland will try to proceed from Group B with Hong Kong being the underdog. The qualifier matches will be played between the 8th and the 13th of March.
• Round 2: Fixtures
  Group 1 has Sri Lanka, South Africa, West Indies, England, and will also include the team coming forward from the Group B qualifier round. Group 2 has India, New Zealand, Pakistan, Australia, and the winner of the Group A qualifier round. These matches are scheduled to take place between the 15th and the 28th of March.

Knockout stage

Two teams from each group will directly qualify for the semi-finals. If Pakistan is involved in any of these matches, it will be played in New Delhi instead of the usual stadium due to security concerns.

• Semi-finals
  The matches will be played on the 30th (New Delhi) and 31st (Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai) of March
• Final
  The final will be played at Eden Gardens Stadium in Kolkata on the 3rd of April

Expectations & Odds

With an in-form long batting line-up and unpredictable bowling attack, the tournament host, India, is the favourite to win it all going into the event at 3.20 courtesy of online bookmaker bet365. But don’t count out the Kiwis and Nathan McCullum. He’ll be playing in his last international tournament before retiring so expect the pride of New Zealand to perform well during McCullum’s fond farewell, and with odds on them to win it all at 10.00, a little wager on the action is looking like a good bet to place.

【2016 ICC Twenty20 World Cup Outright Winner Odds】

※ Current Odds Date & Time: March 5, 7:00 a.m. (GMT)