KARACHI, Dec 7 (APP): The International Cricket Council (ICC) Monday announced the schedule of the ICC U19 Cricket World Cup 2016,which will be held across eight venues in four cities of Bangladesh from January 27 to February 14, 2016.
Chittagong, Cox’s Bazar, Dhaka and Sylhet will share 48 matches between them during the 19-day tournament, which will open with the match between defending champion South Africa and host Bangladesh at Zohur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium (ZACS) in Chittagong.
The tournament will culminate with the final at the iconic Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium in Mirpur.All matches will be day fixtures and will start at 0930 local time.The Super League
semi-finals and final will have reserve days.For the first time in the history of this competition, ICC will produce live broadcast coverage of an unprecedented 20 matches. The
matches which will be shown around the world by ICC broadcast partner,Star Sports and its licensees include four from Chittagong, nine from Mirpur and seven from Fatullah.
In the 2014 event in the UAE, Star Sports and its licensees had broadcast 11 matches, while 10 matches each were televised from the 2008, 2010 and 2012 events in Malaysia, New Zealand and Australia respectively. More details on broadcast coverage of the event will be announced in due course.This increased broadcast coverage is a clear reflection in the
enhanced profile of the event, which is billed as the platform for future stars.This claim can be substantiated by the fact that nine of the 10 current Test captains have previously played in the ICC U19 Cricket World Cups, while Pakistan’s One-Day International captain
Azhar Ali participated in the 2002 tournament in New Zealand.According to the event format, the 16 sides have been equally divided into four groups of four each, with the top two from each group progressing to the Super League stage and the bottom two to
feature in the Plate Championship.Apart from the 10 Test playing countries, six Associate and Affiliate Member sides – Afghanistan, Canada, Fiji, Namibia, Nepal and
Scotland – will also participate after winning the various regional
qualifying events.
Previous winners:
Australia have won the event thrice (1988, 2002,2010)
while Pakistan won the event for two consecutive times in 2004 and
2006.
Groups:
Group “A” : South Africa, Bangladesh, Scotland, Nambia
Group “B” : Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Afghanistan, Canada,
Group “C” : England, West Indies, Zimbabwe, Fiji
Group “D” : Australia, India, New Zealand, Nepal
Warm-up matches
22 Jan – West Indies v Scotland, Fatullah; South Africa v Fiji,
Fatullah Outer
23 Jan ; Pakistan v Nepal, BKSP-1; Sri Lanka v New Zealand, BKSP-2;
Afghanistan v Australia, BKSP-3; India v Canada, BKSP-4; England v
Namibia, CDVs, Chittagong; Bangladesh v Zimbabwe, ZACS, Chittagong
24 Jan – South Africa v West Indies, Fatullah; Scotland v Fiji,
Fatullah Outer
25 Jan – Afghanistan v New Zealand, BKSP-1; Sri Lanka v Nepal, BKSP-2;
Australia v Canada, BKSP-3; Pakistan v India, BKSP-4; Zimbabwe v
Namibia, CDVS, Chittagong; England v Bangladesh, ZACS, Chittagong
Following is schedule of group matches:
27 Jan – England v Fiji, CDVS, Chittagong; South Africa v Bangladesh*,
ZACS, Chittagong
28 Jan – Australia v India*, Mirpur; New Zealand v Nepal, Fatullah;
Pakistan v Afghanistan, SICS, Sylhet; Sri Lanka v Canada, SDVC, Sylhet
29 Jan – Zimbabwe v Fiji, CDVS, Chittagong; England v West Indies*,
ZACS, Chittagong; Scotland v Namibia, Cox’s Bazar (main)
30 Jan – India v New Zealand*, Mirpur; Australia v Nepal, Fatullah;
Sri Lanka v Afghanistan, SICS, Sylhet; Pakistan v Canada, SDVC, Sylhet
31 Jan – West Indies v Fiji, CDVS, Chittagong; England v Zimbabwe*,
ZACS, Chittagong; Bangladesh v Scotland, Cox’s Bazar (main); South
Africa v Namibia, Cox’s Bazar (second)
1 Feb – India v Nepal*, Mirpur; Australia v New Zealand, Fatullah;
Afghanistan v Canada, SICS, Sylhet
2 Feb – West Indies v Zimbabwe*, ZACS, Chittagong; Bangladesh v
Namibia, Cox’s Bazar (main); South Africa v Scotland, Cox’s Bazar
(second)
3 Feb – Pakistan v Sri Lanka*, Mirpur
Plate Championship
4 Feb – Plater quarter-final 1 (AA3 v DD4), Cox’s Bazar (main); Plate
quarter-final 3 (DD3 v AA4), Cox’s Bazar (second)
5 Feb – Plate quarter-final 2 (BB3 v CC4), Cox’s Bazar (main); Plate
quarter-final 4 (CC3 v BB4), Cox’s Bazar (second)
7 Feb – Plate play/off semi 1 (loser PQF1 v loser PQF4), Cox’s Bazar
(main)
8 Feb – Plate semi-final 1 (winner PQF1 v winner PQF4), Cox’s Bazar
(main); Plate play/off 2 (loser PQF2 v loser PQF3), Cox’s Bazar
(second)
9 Feb – Plate semi-final 2 (winner PQF2 v winner PQF3), Cox’s Bazar
(second)
10 Feb – Plate play/off for 13th/14th positions (winner plate play/off
semi-final 1 v winner plate play/off semi-final 2), Cox’s Bazar (main)
11 Feb – Plate play/off for 15th/16th positions (loser plate play/off
semi-final 1 v loser plate play/off semi-final 2), Cox’s Bazar (second
12 Feb – Plate final (winner plate semi-final 1 v winner plate
semi-final 2), Cox’s Bazar (main); plate play/off for 11th/ 12th
positions (loser plate semi-final 1 v loser plate semi-final 2), Cox’s
Bazar (second)
Super League
5 Feb – Super League quarter-final 1* (AA1 v DD2), Mirpur
6 Feb – Super League quarter-final 3* (DD1 v AA2), Fatullah
7 Feb – Super League quarter-final 4* (CC1 v BB2), Mirpur
8 Feb – Super League quarter-final 2* (BB1 v CC2), Fatullah
9 Feb – Super League semi-final 1* (winner Super League quarter-final
1 v winner Super League quarter-final 4), Mirpur; Super League
play/off semi-final 1* (loser Super League quarter-final 1 v loser
Super League quarter-final 4), Fatullah
10 Feb – Super League play/off semi-final 2* (loser Super League
quarter-final 2 v loser Super League quarter-final 3), Fatullah
11 Feb – Super League semi-final 2* (winner Super League quarter-final
2 v winner Super League quarter-final 3), Mirpur; Super League
play/off 7th/8th positions* (loser Super League play/off semi-final 1
v loser Super League play/off semi-final 2), Fatullah
12 Feb – Super League play/off for 5th/6th positions* (winner Super
League play/off semi-final 1 v winner Super League play/off Super
League semi-final 2), Fatullah
13 Feb – Super League play/off four 3rd/4th positions* (loser Super
League semi-final 1 v loser Super League semi-final 2), Fatullah
14 Feb – Super League final* (winner Super League semi-final 1 v
winner Super League semi-final 2), Mirpur
