The ICC Men's Twenty20 World Cup 2024, cricket's premier tournament, has reached the Super Eights stage in the United States and the West Indies.
The 20-team competition has been reduced to eight teams and there have already been big surprises and eliminations in the group stage.
Here's what you need to know about the next phase of the tournament:
Which teams have qualified for the Super Eight?
The top two teams from each of the four initial groups have qualified, with the most notable omissions being Pakistan and New Zealand:
- India (Group A Winners)
- USA (Runner-up of Group A)
- Australia (Group B winners)
- England (Runner-up of Group B)
- West Indies (Group C Winners)
- Afghanistan (Runner-up of Group C)
- South Africa (Group D Winners)
- Bangladesh (Group D runner-up)
How does the format work?
After the four groups of five that started the tournament, the structure is now reduced to two groups of four: the Super Eight.
Each team will play each other once in their respective groups and the top two teams from each will qualify for the semi-finals.
- Group 1: Afghanistan, Australia, Bangladesh, India
- Group 2: England, South Africa, United States, West Indies
When and where are the Super Eight and the final?
The Super Eight will be played from June 18 to 25.
The tournament, which opened on June 2 at Grand Prairie Stadium, Grand Prairie, Dallas, moved from the United States and will now be played entirely in the Caribbean. Four locations will be used in Barbados, Saint Lucia, Antigua and Saint Vincent.
The semi-finals will be played on June 27 in Trinidad and Tobago and Guyana respectively. The final in Barbados will take place on June 29.
What are the most important matches to watch out for in the Super Eights?
In an edition rife with upsets and upsets, including the biggest in the tournament's history when the United States beat Pakistan, each match now appears to have even greater value.
The United States, just as it did in the group stage, will open the next round against South Africa on Wednesday. The Proteas claimed four wins from their four group matches, but each was a close fight rather than the ride the table may suggest. Their top order has failed to fire and the United States will be betting on pushing another of the world's cricketing giants all the way.
Co-hosts West Indies, also one of our five pre-tournament favourites, will take on champions England in the second match of the Super Eights stage on Thursday. This is followed by India, defeated finalists in the 2023 Cricket World Cup, against Afghanistan, now one of the dark horses for the trophy. Both parties are likely to chart the path the two groups will take.
By the time England play South Africa on Friday, we could be looking at a play-off for one of the powerhouses.
Australia must wait until Friday to start their tournament and must watch out for the Bangladesh spinners in Antigua. The same will be true, if not more so, for Mitchell Marsh's Australians on Sunday when they take on Afghanistan.
The key showdown in Group 1 will be in the final round of Super Eights matches between Australia and India, a repeat of the Cricket World Cup finals and the 2023 Test Championship. It is a match that will likely decide the former. and the second in the group and, therefore, the seeds for the semifinals.
Reigning champions England will follow their first match against the West Indies by taking on South Africa in their second match before finishing against the United States. The co-hosts' match against the Proteas appears to be a clear tie at that stage, unless the United States can pull off another upset when they face the defending champions.
#TeamIndia Domination 👌
ICC Men's Ranking Annual Update 👇
No. 1⃣ in ODI rankings
No. 1⃣ in T20I rankings
No. 2⃣ in test rankingsSend your best wishes to the Indian cricket team 👏 🔽 pic.twitter.com/plOl9XBZUG
-BCCI (@BCCI) May 3, 2024
Who are the favorites for the 2024 T20 World Cup semi-finals?
India is the number one ranked T20 team. However, the tournament has been uncomfortable so far and the matches against the United States and Canada were more problematic than expected, while their match against Pakistan went down to the wire. Rohit Sharma's men will be desperate to make up for the heartbreak of losing the 2023 Cricket World Cup final to Australia at home and will hope his players can carry their form from the just-concluded Indian Premier League into the final stages of this tournament.
Australia can become the undisputed kings of cricket if they manage to unify world titles by lifting the T20 World Cup. The Australians lifted the World Test Championship in 2023, beating India at The Oval, England, before retaining the Ashes on English soil and then completing a whirlwind year by beating India in Ahmedabad to be crowned over-50 champions. A clean sweep of the Test, ODI and T20 titles would be the most notable turnaround for a team that was humiliated by the 2018 sandpaper ball-tampering controversy.
England's defense of their T20 trophy appeared headed for an equally disastrous end as their 50th title last year. Failure in their first match against Scotland was followed by a 36-run defeat to Australia and left them praying that the weather would be kind for their final two must-win matches against Oman and Namibia. The latter proved to be a nervous wait and a close contest in a small game, but Jos Buttler's team managed to come out ahead. Carlos Brathwaite's heroics in the last over of the 2016 final will continue to haunt the English when they take on the West Indies (both teams aiming for a record third T20 title), while South Africa, the other Group 2 contender, It can never be ruled out.
The Proteas seam attack is led by the fit-again Anriche Nortje, who has the best economy (5.02) of any bowler in a T20 World Cup, but they will have to shake off their voodoo of never getting past the semi-final stage of a major international tournament. Cricket Council (ICC) Tournament. West Indies, meanwhile, cannot be ruled out but have yet to be tested in this edition after getting through a group with Uganda, Papua New Guinea and a desperately below-par New Zealand.
Here's Al Jazeera's quick tour of the tournament's history.
What are the complete Super Eight matches?
Group 1: Afghanistan vs India (June 20, Barbados), Australia vs Bangladesh (June 21, Antigua), India vs Bangladesh (June 22, Antigua), Afghanistan vs Australia (June 23, Saint Vincent), Australia vs India (24 June, Saint Lucia), Afghanistan vs Bangladesh (June 25, Saint Vincent)
Group 2: United States vs South Africa (June 19, Antigua), West Indies vs England (June 20, Saint Lucia), England vs South Africa (June 21, Antigua), West Indies vs United States (June 22, Barbados), United States United vs England (June 23, Barbados), West Indies vs South Africa (June 24, Antigua)
How much is the prize money for the T20 World Cup?
The ICC has not confirmed the prize money for the 2024 edition of the tournament, but previous winners England took home $1.6 million in 2022.
Where can I follow the Super Eights of the T20 World Cup?
The ICC has granted rights to various broadcast and online streaming media around the world.
Al Jazeera offers extensive coverage of the tournament with news, previews, key information as well as live updates of the biggest matches, followed by post-match reaction, analysis and everything you need to know about the T20 World Cup. .
