By Sourit Sanyal
The preliminary group stage of the 2022 ICC T20 World Cup is over with the mega tournament now heading towards the Super 12 stage. After five days of intense preliminary group stage fixtures, the final twelve for the T20 World Cup are ready after Sri Lanka, the Netherlands, Zimbabwe, and Ireland confirmed their qualification for the next round.
With the commencement of the Super 12, many do wonder about the system and how the tournament will progress from here. Here's a look at the Super 12 and how the 2022 ICC T20 World Cup will progress from here.
The Super 12
The Super 12 consists of the top 12 teams in world cricket that are divided into two groups. Each group consists of six teams. Out of the six teams in each group, four teams were already drawn as the seeded teams of the tournament with two slots available. These slots were open for the national teams that were competing in the preliminary group stage, that marked the beginning of the tournament from October 16.
The 2022 edition of the T20 World Cup rather started off differently from its usual tradition of the host national team playing the first match of the tournament. Unlike the usual tradition, where host nation Australia was expected to play the first match of the tournament, this time it was Sri Lanka who faced Namibia for the opening match of the T20 World Cup. The Sri Lanka vs Namibia match also marked the beginning of the preliminary group stage.
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Preliminary Group Stage
In the prelims, two groups with four teams each were drawn. The top two teams from each group will proceed to complete and join the Super 12 later. Group A drew Sri Lanka, Namibia, the UAE and the Netherlands. Group B had Scotland, Zimbabwe, Ireland and West Indies.
Both the groups witnessed an intense series of matches where the top four were ultimately decided until the end of the group stage. From Group A, Sri Lanka and Netherlands qualified for the Super 12. They were accompanied by Zimbabwe and Ireland from Group B.
The last matchday of the group stage witnessed Ireland defeat record champions West Indies by 9 wickets. The Windies were knocked out of the Super 12 qualification, thus ending their T20 World Cup campaign in a short period.
For many others, the tournament begins from Saturday with the commencement of the Super 12. The Super 12 begins with Australia taking on their neighbours New Zealand on Sunday at the Sydney Cricket Ground. The two teams were finalists of the previous T20 World Cup in 2021, held at the UAE, where the Aussies triumphed over the Kiwis by eight wickets. The Australians also start their campaign as the defending champions of the T20 World Cup.
Super 12: Groups
The Super 12 is set with the national teams divided into two groups. The Group one/Pool one consists of Afghanistan, Australia, England, New Zealand as the seeded teams. Ireland and Sri Lanka later joined the two after qualifying from the preliminary group stage.
Group two/Pool two drew Bangladesh, India, Pakistan and South Africa as the seeded teams. They were joined by Zimbabwe and the Netherlands later from the preliminary group stage.
How The Tournament Will Proceed From Here?
Teams drawn in the Super 12 stage will go through a round-robin system in their respective groups. After each team has played their respective five matches against the remaining opponents in the group, the top two teams from each group will qualify for the semi-finals.
The semi-finals will take place on November 9 and November 10. Winners of the semi-finals will head to the 2022 ICC T20 World Cup final, scheduled for November 13 at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG Stadium) in Victoria.
Team India under the leadership of Rohit Sharma and coach Rahul Dravid will commence their 2022 T20 World Cup campaign against Pakistan on Sunday at the MCG.
