Tag: T20 World Cup 2024

A total of 12 teams have been confirmed for the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2026 after the Super 8 stage of the ongoing T20 World Cup 2024 was finalized with Bangladesh claiming the last spot.

The T20 World Cup 2026 will follow the same format as the ongoing edition, featuring 20 teams, divided into four groups of five. The top two teams from each group will then qualify for the semi-finals.

Meanwhile, after Bangladesh edged past Nepal in a low-scoring thriller and advanced into the next round, 12 teams have been confirmed for the next edition of the mega event.

The teams to secure qualification before the regional qualifiers are hosts India and Sri Lanka, and seven teams from the Super 8s of the T20 World Cup 2024 — Australia, England, Bangladesh, USA, Afghanistan, South Africa and West Indies.

Meanwhile, Pakistan, New Zealand and Ireland are the remaining three teams to qualify for the T20 World Cup 2026 on the basis of superior team ranking.

Notably, the remaining eight teams for the mega event will be decided through regional qualifiers, the details of which will be announced in due course.

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It is worth mentioning here that the internet was flooded with rumours that claimed that Pakistan would need to partake in regional qualifiers to feature in the next edition of the T20 World Cup after the former champions were knocked out of the group stage of the tournament for the first time.

The Green Shirts had a disastrous start to their T20 World Cup 2024 campaign as they suffered a shock loss against the USA in the Super Over.

Pakistan then succumbed to a frustrating six-run defeat against arch-rivals India at a jam-packed Nassau County International Cricket Stadium on June 9.

The back-to-back defeats put Pakistan on the verge of an early exit from the tournament.

The former champions then finally got on the winning track when they registered a hard-fought seven-wicket victory over Canada.

Pakistan then edged past Ireland in another stiff challenge to bow out of the T20 World Cup 2024 with a win.

The 2009 champions finished third in Group A standings with four points in four matches.

READ: Tamim Iqbal wants Shahid Afridi to “show the way” to Pakistan cricket

TAROUBA: New Zealand have won the toss and chose to field first against Papua New Guinea (PNG) in the 39th match of the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2024 here on Monday.

PLAYING XIs

New Zealand: Finn Allen, Devon Conway (wk), Kane Williamson (c), Rachin Ravindra, Daryl Mitchell, Glenn Phillips, Ish Sodhi, Mitchell Santner, Tim Southee, Lockie Ferguson, Trent Boult.

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PNG: Assad Vala (c), Tony Ura, Charles Amini, Sese Bau, Hiri Hiri, Kiplin Doriga (wk), Chad Soper, Norman Vanua, Alei Nao, Kabua Morea, Semo Kamea.

READ: Tamim Iqbal wants Shahid Afridi to “show the way” to Pakistan cricket

FLORIDA: The Pakistan men’s cricket team celebrated Eid-ul-Adha in Lauderhill here following their participation in the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2024.

According to the details, the national team offered Eid prayers at the hotel, led by wicketkeeper batter Mohammad Rizwan.

After offering the Eid prayer, the players, alongside support staff greeted each other and posed for the pictures.

Taking to X, formerly Twitter, the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) shared glimpses of the team’s Eid celebration.

“Eid Mubarak from the Pakistan team! The players offered Eid prayers in Florida,” PCB wrote.

For the unversed, Pakistan, in a first, knocked out of the T20 World Cup in the group stage after a crucial Group A fixture between the co-host United States of America (USA) and Ireland was abandoned here without a ball bowled.

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The Green Shirts had a disastrous start to their T20 World Cup 2024 campaign as they suffered a shock loss against the USA in the Super Over.

Pakistan then succumbed to a frustrating six-run defeat against arch-rivals India at a jam-packed Nassau County International Cricket Stadium on June 9.

The back-to-back defeats put Pakistan on the verge of an early exit from the tournament.

The former champions then finally got on the winning track when they registered a hard-fought seven-wicket victory over Canada.

Pakistan then edged past Ireland in another stiff challenge to bow out of the T20 World Cup 2024 with a win.

The 2009 champions finished third in Group A standings with four points in four matches.

READ: Tamim Iqbal wants Shahid Afridi to “show the way” to Pakistan cricket

Former Bangladesh captain Tamim Iqbal wants legendary all-rounder Shahid Afridi to guide jolted Pakistan after their group-stage exit from the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2024.

Taking to X, formerly Twitter, Tamim expressed disappointment on Pakistan’s early exit and hoped that the former champions would come back stronger under the guidance of senior players like Shahid Afridi.

“Feel sad to see Pakistan get eliminated from T20 WC. Hope they come well next time and have seniors like [Shahid Afridi] to show the way,” Tamim Iqbal wrote.

The Green Shirts were knocked out of the group stage of the marquee event for the first time due to embarrassing losses against the United States of America (USA) and India.

They defeated Canada to maintain their Super 8s hopes, but the crucial match between the USA and Ireland was rained out, leading to the USA’s qualification for the next round.

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Babar Azam’s side then registered a consolation victory over Ireland in their last match, with the star batter leading the run-chase with an unbeaten 32 off 34 deliveries.

The three-wicket victory lifted Pakistan to third in Group A standings of the T20 World Cup 2024 with four points in four matches but it was not enough to take them into the Super 8s.

For the unversed, the Super 8 stage of the tournament has been finalized after Bangladesh edged past Nepal to seal the last berth.

They joined Australia, India and Afghanistan in Group 1 while Group B features defending champions England, South Africa, West Indies and the USA.

READ: Tanzim Hasan Sakib sets unique T20 World Cup record against Nepal

KINGSTOWN: Bangladesh pacer Tanzim Hasan Sakib set a unique record during his side’s 21-run victory over Nepal in a low-scoring ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2024 clash here at Arnos Vale Ground on Sunday.

Sakib played an important role in Bangladesh’s victory and earned the man of the match award for his brilliant bowling figures of 4-7.

During this fiery four-over spell, he bowled 21 dot balls, which is the most by any bowler in a T20 World Cup game.

The previous record for the most dot balls bowled in a T20 World Cup match was jointly held by seven bowlers, all of whom bowled 20 dot balls, including New Zealand’s Trent Boult and South Africa’s Ottneil Baartman in the ongoing edition.

Tanzim Hasan Sakib, while defending a modest total of 106, provided the breakthrough with the new ball, dismissing Kushal Bhurtel (4) and Anil Shah (0) in the third over with nine runs on the board.

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He added two more wickets to his tally, while Mustafizur Rahman also contributed with a wicket to reduce Nepal to 26-5 in seven overs.

Kushal Malla and Dipendra Singh Airee then knitted a cautious 52-run partnership to force Nepal’s comeback, however, Rahman removed Malla to break the partnership.

Malla top-scored for Nepal with a scratchy 27-run knock from 40 balls, which featured one four and one six.

Meanwhile, Airee scored 25 off 31 with the help of two boundaries and one six before falling prey to Rahman in the next over.

Shakib Al Hasan bowled the last over, taking two wickets in two balls to close Nepal’s innings at 85.

This victory propelled Bangladesh to become the second team from Group D to qualify for the Super 8 stage of the tournament alongside South Africa.

READ: Babar Azam breaks silence on his future as Pakistan captain

Pakistan captain Babar Azam broke silence on his future in the leadership role after his side’s early exit from the ongoing ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2024.

The Green Shirts were knocked out of the group stage of the marquee event for the first time due to embarrassing losses against the United States of America (USA) and India.

They defeated Canada to maintain their Super 8s hopes, but the crucial match between the USA and Ireland was rained out, leading to the USA’s qualification for the next round.

Babar Azam’s side then registered a consolation victory over Ireland in their last match, with the star batter leading the run-chase with an unbeaten 32 off 34 deliveries.

During the post-match press conference, Azam opened up on his decision to reaccept captaincy after leaving the post after the ICC ODI World Cup 2023.

“When I gave up the captaincy [in 2023], I thought that I shouldn’t be doing it now, that’s why I left it and I announced it myself,” Babar Azam said. “Then when they gave it back to me, it was the decision of the PCB.”

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The right-hander then addressed the speculations about him leaving captaincy, stating that he is currently not thinking about it.

“When I go back, we will discuss all that has happened here. And if I have to leave the captaincy, I will announce it openly. I will not hide behind anything. Whatever happens will happen in the open. But for now, I have not thought about it. It is eventually PCB’s decision,” he added.

While answering a question about Pakistan’s early exit from the tournament, the captain stated that the team did not perform well collectively, and no single person can be blamed for the defeat.

“I told you that we did not lose this because of one particular person. We win and lose as a team. You are pointing out that [I am] the captain, but I cannot play in every player’s place,” he asserted.

“There are 11 players, and each of them has a role. That’s why they came here to play the World Cup. I think we have not been able to play well as a team. We have to settle down and accept that we didn’t play well as a team,” he further added.

READ: Sri Lanka thump Netherlands to seal consolation victory in T20 World Cup

SAINT LUCIA: A combined team effort earned Sri Lanka their only victory in the ongoing ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2024 as they thumped the Netherlands by 83 runs here at Daren Sammy National Cricket Stadium on Sunday.

In the last Group D fixture, the Netherlands bundled out for 118 in 16.4 overs while chasing a mammoth 202.

The Dutch side got off to a flying start courtesy of a 45-run opening partnership between Michael Levitt and Max O’Dowd (11), with the former scoring the bulk of runs.

Nuwan Thushara provided the breakthrough to force Sri Lanka’s comeback as he removed O’Dowd in 4.3 overs.

Meanwhile, Levitt, who scored 31 off 23 with the help of two boundaries and three sixes, fell prey to Maheesh Theekshana in the next over to leave the Netherlands reeling at 47-2.

The Netherlands failed to recover from two quick wickets and kept losing wickets at an alarming rate. Skipper Scott Edwards played a fighting knock of 31 runs from 24 balls, however, he could not find support from the other end.

Thushara dismissed Edwards and Paul van Meekeren in three balls to wrap the Dutch innings at 118 in the 17th over.

For Sri Lanka, Thushara claimed three wickets, while Wanindu Hasaranga and Matheesha Pathirana bagged two wickets each.

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Earlier, the Netherlands opted to bowl first and reduced Sri Lanka to 39-2 inside the powerplay.

Kusal Mendis and Dhananjaya de Silva then joined hands to add 45 runs for the third wicket in 35 balls before Arryan Dutt sent the former back.

Mendis scored a 29-ball 46 with the help of five boundaries.

Dhananjaya de Silva (34) then added 39 runs with Charith Asalanka in a 21-ball partnership for the fourth wicket, pushing the team’s total to 123 in the 15th over.

Asalanka smashed five sixes and one boundary on his way to a 21-ball 46 before Logan van Beek sent him back to the pavilion.

Angelo Mathews (30*) and Wanindu Hasaranga (20) played quick valuable cameos to push the team’s total to 201-6 in their allocated 20 overs.

Logan van Beek topped the wicket-takers chart for the Netherlands with two wickets, while Vivian Kingma, Aryan Dutt and Paul van Meekeren managed one apiece.

READ: Bangladesh sink Nepal in low-scoring clash to reach T20 World Cup 2024 Super 8s

KINGSTOWN: Bangladesh pacers wreak havoc to help their team edge past Nepal by 21 runs in a low-scoring ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2024 clash here at Arnos Vale Ground on Sunday.

This victory propelled Bangladesh to become the second team from Group D to qualify for the Super 8 stage of the tournament alongside South Africa.

Set to chase a modest target of 107, Nepal folded for 85 in 19.2 overs, courtesy of Bangladesh’s fiery pace bowling.

Tanzim Hasan Sakib once again provided the breakthrough with the new ball as he dismissed Kushal Bhurtel (4) and Anil Shah (0) in the third over with nine runs on the board.

The pacer added two more wickets to his tally, while Mustafizur Rahman also contributed with a wicket to reduce Nepal to 26-5 in seven overs.

Kushal Malla and Dipendra Singh Airee then knitted a cautious 52-run partnership to force Nepal’s comeback, however, Rahman removed Malla to break the partnership.

Malla top-scored for Nepal with a scratchy 27-run knock from 40 balls, which featured one four and one six.

Meanwhile, Airee scored 25 off 31 with the help of two boundaries and one six before falling prey to Rahman in the next over.

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Shakib Al Hasan bowled the last over, taking two wickets in two balls to close Nepal’s innings at 85.

Tanzim Hasan Sakib returned with brilliant bowling figures of 4-7, while Mustafizur Rahman claimed 3-7.

Earlier, Bangladesh were bundled out for a paltry 106 in 19.3 overs after being sent into bat.

Sompal Kami drew first blood as he caught and bowled Tanzid Hasan on the first ball of the match. Bangladesh soon slipped to 30-4 inside the powerplay with Kami taking two.

The experienced duo of Shakib Al Hasan (17) and Mahmudullah (13) stitched a 22-run partnership to get their team out of the trouble but a mix-up resulted in the latter’s run-out to leave Bangladesh reeling at 52-5.

Nepal bowlers kept picking wickets at regular intervals to deny any chance of a comeback, however, tailenders Rishad Hossain (13 off 7) and Taskin Ahmed (12* off 15) played cameos to carry Bangladesh’s total to 106.

Mustafizur Rahman (3) got run out in the final over to end Bangladesh’s innings.

For Nepal, Kami, Airee, Rohit Paudel and Sandeep Lamichhane picked two wickets each.

READ: Angelo Mathews apologises after Sri Lanka’s T20 World Cup debacle

Sri Lanka’s experienced all-rounder Angelo Mathews offered an apology following the team’s early exit from the ongoing ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2024, co-hosted by the United States of America (USA) and West Indies.

In a media talk ahead of Sri Lanka’s final game against the Netherlands on Sunday, he reflected on the team’s campaign in the marquee event and discussed the unpredictable nature of the shorter format.

“I think first of all we’ve let the entire nation down and we are really sorry because we’ve let ourselves down,” said Matthews. “We never expected this. I mean, we came across a lot of challenges but those are not something to sort of worry about, but it’s unfortunate that we didn’t make the second round.”

“This format is such where you can’t take any team lightly. I mean they come up with, they’ve got nothing to lose and you can’t you can’t take any team lightly. I mean we’ve seen that especially over the last few years also especially in this tournament, we have seen teams beating bigger teams. As I always say you can’t take any team lightly,” he added.

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Meanwhile, Matthews expressed hope that his team will close out on a high note and will look to edge the Netherlands in their final game in the T20 World Cup 2024.

“It’s very important. I think we can’t take any given team lightly. We saw Nepal beat South Africa yesterday. It’s unfortunate that our Nepal game was washed out. But it is what it is. We have just one more game in the tournament, and we’ll play for pride,” he said.

Sri Lanka lost their matches against South Africa in New York and Bangladesh in Dallas while their fixture against Nepal washed out in Florida at the T20 World Cup 2024.

They were officially eliminated in the group stage after Bangladesh beat the Netherlands in St Vincent on June 13.

Sri Lanka’s early exit means it is now a decade since they reached the semi-finals of a T20 World Cup.

READ: Shaheen Afridi equals Imad Wasim’s T20I record

Pakistan pacer Shaheen Afridi equalled the record made by all-rounder Imad Wasim during their game against Ireland in the T20 World Cup 2024.

Afridi became the second Pakistani bowler to have taken three wickets inside powerplay twice in T20Is as he dismissed three Ireland batters in Sunday’s game in Florida.

All-rounder Imad Wasim was the first Pakistani bowler to have achieved the record by taking three wickets in a T20I power-play in 2016 and 2018.

Pakistan’s experienced pacer Mohammad Amir alongside former speedsters Sohail Tanvir and Umar Gul have taken three wickets in powerplay once in their careers.

Shaheen Afridi’s three scalps included two wickets in the first over of Ireland’s inning in the ongoing T20 World Cup 2024.

Meanwhile, Pakistan, who had already been knocked out of the Super 8s contention, registered a consolation victory over Ireland in their last match.

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Shaheen Afridi starred with his all-round abilities as he backed his three wickets with an unbeaten blistering cameo.

He came out to bat when Pakistan needed 11 off 14 deliveries and steered Pakistan to glory with 13 not out off five deliveries. He smashed two sixes during his match-winning cameo.

Pakistan captain Babar Azam anchored the run-chase with his sensible knock and top-scored with an unbeaten 32 off 34 deliveries.

Besides Shaheen Afridi, Imad Wasi also claimed three wickets while Mohammad Amir bagged two. Haris Rauf, on the other hand, made one scalp.

The three-wicket victory over Ireland helped Pakistan to finish third in Group A standing of the T20 World Cup 2024.

READ: Samar Khan becomes first Pakistani to summit Europe’s highest peak