T20 World Cup first-round: BAN, SL expect tough competition

T20 World Cup first-round: Sri Lanka, Ireland, the Netherlands and Namibia will contest Group A in the first round of the 2021 ICC Men’s T20 World Cup for the right to reach the Super 12 stage.

T20 World Cup first-round: Bangladesh, Sri Lanka expect tough competition from associate nations

Only the top two teams will progress from the group after all four have played against each other once in the round-robin format, kicking off with the first games on October 18. Namibia will make history after qualifying for the tournament for the first time, having qualified through the 2019 ICC T20 World Cup Qualifier with victory over Oman.
Ireland and Netherlands also secured their ICC Men’s T20 World Cup berths through the same route while 2014 champions Sri Lanka qualified through their world ranking.

T20 World Cup first-round: The top seeds from Group A will enter Group 1 of the Super 12 stage along with Australia, England, South Africa, West Indies and the second seed from Group B.

Meanwhile, the second team from Group A go into Group 2 with Afghanistan, India, New Zealand, Pakistan and the top seeds from Group B after the first round of fixtures.

Favourites on paper to progress as top seeds from Group A, Sri Lanka have been inextricably intertwined with the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup ever since the first one in 2007. They have contested every single tournament since then, finishing runners-up in 2009 and 2012 before finally lifting the trophy with victory over India in 2014 final.

T20 World Cup first-round: Since missing out on the inaugural tournament in 2007, Ireland has been a regular feature of the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup and will contest their sixth in the UAE and Oman. Their best-ever performance to date came on their debut at the 2009 edition hosted by England, progressing from the first round to reach the Super 8s after beating Bangladesh.

The Dutch showed their pedigree in the shortest format by winning the 2019 ICC T20 World Cup Qualifier, beating Papua New Guinea by seven wickets in the final in Dubai. Netherlands had already secured their qualification by reaching the semi-final stage, where they defeated Ireland by 21 runs to lay down a marker to their Group A rivals.

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The lowest-ranked team in the tournament at 19th, Namibia are making their ICC Men’s T20 World Cup debut this year and will be viewed as underdogs to progress from Group A.

Yet their road to the showpiece event showed that they do not give up without a fight, clinching their maiden appearance with five straight wins after defeats to Netherlands and PNG

Bangladesh favourites but expects tough competition in Group B

Group B looks set to be hotly contested in the first round of the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2021 as Bangladesh, Oman, Papua New Guinea and Scotland battle it out to qualify for the Super 12.

The teams will play each other once in a round-robin format from October 17-21, with the top two advancing into the next stage. Oman has a home advantage in just their second ICC Men’s T20 World Cup, with all the Group B matches to be played at the Oman Cricket Academy Ground in Al Amerat.

The hosts earned their place after coming through the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup Qualifier 2019, as did Scotland and Papua New Guinea – who will be playing in their first World Cup in any format.

Bangladesh qualified by virtue of its world ranking and entered as favourites to top the group. Whoever does so will join Afghanistan, India, New Zealand, Pakistan and the Group A runners-up in Group 2 at the Super 12 stage.

T20 World Cup first-round: The team finishing second in Group B will meet Australia, England, South Africa, reigning champions West Indies and the Group A winners in Group 1. Ever-presents at the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup, Bangladesh have not yet topped their performance in the very first edition in 2007 when they reached the Super 8s stage.

Hosting the tournament in 2014 did not bring a change in fortunes but a squad containing a promising mixture of youth and experience enter in excellent form this time around following an impressive sequence of series wins.

Victory over Ireland announced Oman’s arrival on the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup scene in style five years ago. And though they went on to fall at the first hurdle, a combination of steady improvements since and playing on home soil give Oman reasons to believe they can advance further on this occasion.

Following near-misses in their qualification attempts for the 2014 and 2016 ICC Men’s T20 World Cups, Papua New Guinea left nothing to chance in the 2019 ICC T20 WC Qualifier and was the first team to seal their spot after topping Group A.

T20 World Cup first-round: A five-wicket win over the Netherlands in the group stage proved decisive and though the Dutch got their own back by winning the final, Papua New Guinea was still able to celebrate qualifying for their first-ever ICC global tournament.

Following a seven-year hiatus, Scotland was back in ICC Men’s T20 WC action in 2016 and sealed their return by winning the fifth-place play-off against Oman in the 2019 ICC T20 WC Qualifier.

The same qualifying tournament saw them defeat Group B rivals Papua New Guinea while a five-wicket win over Ireland in their opening warm-up match suggests this is a Scotland side arriving in good nick.

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