The Men's T20 World Cup 2021 is now not very far away. While the groups of the world event organised by the International Cricket Council (ICC) had already been announced, even the fixtures were made public earlier this week. The competition is set to happen in two rounds with the first round being the qualifier to the Second "Super 12" round. Although the Super 12 stage of the marquee event is set to be staged across three venues in UAE- Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Sharjah, the Round 1 matches will be staged only at one venue- the Oman cricket academy ground.
West Indies are the defending champions of the tournament. They had famously defeated England in the finals of the tournament in 2016 in India. They also happen to be the only team to have won more than one title. India, Pakistan, England and Sri Lanka have won a title each in the previous editions.
This time around the tournament will take place from October 17 to November 14 with New Zealand set to begin their T20 World Cup campaign with a clash against Pakistan on October 26. While they have been the most consistent teams in recent years, they have no titles to their claim in limited-overs cricket. In fact, the Kiwis won their first-ever ICC title when they defeated India earlier this year in the World Test Championship final.
The Blackcaps' best performance came in the T20 World Cup in 2007 and 2016 where they reached the semifinals but couldn't make any further progress.
Other than Pakistan, New Zealand will also face India, Afghanistan and two more teams who will secure qualification after Round 1 of the tournament. Heading into this tournament, the Kiwis have been in fine form across formats and would look to finally end their drought of a world title even in limited-overs cricket. In Kane Williamson, they also have a reputed leader at the helm and New Zealand would start as one of the better-balanced sides.
Check out New Zealand's fixtures in T20 World Cup here:
New Zealand's fixtures in T20 World Cup 2021
Match | Date | Time | Venue |
New Zealand vs Pakistan | Oct-26 | 7:30 PM IST | Sharjah |
New Zealand vs India | Oct-31 | 7:30 PM IST | Dubai |
New Zealand vs B1 | Nov-03 | 3:30 PM IST | Dubai |
New Zealand vs A2 | Nov-05 | 3:30 PM IST | Sharjah |
New Zealand vs Afghanistan | Nov-07 | 3:30 PM IST | Abu Dhabi |
Semifinal 1 | Nov-10 | 7:30 PM IST | Abu Dhabi |
Semifinal 2 | Nov-11 | 7:30 PM IST | Dubai |
Final | Nov-14 | 7:30 PM IST | Dubai |