Sunday saw the start of the 2022 T20 World Cup with two games being played. Both the games were played at the Simmonds stadium at Geelong situated at Melbourne. The tournament began with the qualifying rounds as Namibia and Sri Lanka locked horns. UAE and Netherlands were the two teams who played the 2nd game of the day on Sunday.
Huge upset to begin the day –
Sri Lanka and Namibia kicked off the T20 World Cup 2022 with the first game of the tournament. Batting first, Namibia scored 163 on the board after being 93/6 at one stage. Much to the shock of all the cricket fans and experts, Namibia bowled out Sri Lanka to win by 55 runs.
Netherlands eke out a one wicket win –
In the 2nd game of the day, Netherlands beat UAE by 1 wicket in the last over of the game. UAE scored 111 only to put pressure on the Dutch who won the game by 3 wickets with 1 ball to spare.
India in group of Death?
The loss suffered by Sri Lanka puts India under pressure even before the Super 12 stage can begin. Group A has Netherlands, Namibia, UAE and Sri Lanka, while Group B has West Indies, Scotland, Zimbabwe and Ireland.
One may ask how does this affect India? and how do the Rohit Sharma led side end up with the group of Death? The answer is simple and you just have to read below to read how this nightmare can come true.
The possible scenarios –
The loss of Sri Lanka to Namibia means the current Asia Cup champs have to win all their games to make it to the Super 12 stage. Not only win all the games, but Sri Lanka also have to hope Namibia and Netherlands lose few more games to take the top spot. If Sri Lanka finish second they would be slotted into Group 2 along with India and Pakistan.
Group B off the qualifiers has West Indies and the two time world champs will be expected to easily top the group. If West Indies as expected win the group and top it they too would be slotted in Group 2 alongside India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and South Africa and Sri Lanka.
The Group 2 Fixtures –
India, Pakistan, South Africa, Bangladesh are currently in Group 2 of the T20 World Cup Super-12 Stage. If Sri Lanka qualify as 2nd placed team in Group A they become A2, while West Indies become B1, if they seal the top spot.
India’s likely fixtures if Sri Lanka and West Indies are slotted in same group-
India vs Pakistan – 23rd October- MCG
India vs Sri Lanka ** - 27th October, SCG
India vs South Africa – 30th October- Perth
India vs Bangladesh – 2nd November, Adelaide
India vs West Indies** - 6th November, MCG
Please note - ** refers to if the scenarios play out as per the article and are likely group standings.