Paris Soir - Dallas to hold T20 World Cup opener, Barbados gets final

The expanded 20-team tournament is being jointly held by the United States and the West Indies and will get under way on June 1st at the Grand Prairie Cricket Stadium in Dallas. Texas, when the USA take on Canada.

A total of 16 games will be held in the United States -- the first time that a major international cricket tournament is held in the country.

A new venue in New York will host the big clash between India and Pakistan on Sunday, June 9 -- one of eight games to be held at the 34,000 stadium being built in Nassau County.

Lauderhill in South Florida, the most established cricket venue in the USA, will host games featuring India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka.

Defending champions England will begin their title defence on June 4 in Barbados against Scotland and 2022 finalists, Pakistan, will get under way when they play the USA in Dallas.

England will go up against traditional rivals Australia in Barbados on June 8.

The 20 teams have been divided into four groups of five, with the top two teams progressing to the 'Super Eights'.

The Super Eight games will all be held in the Caribbean -- in Antigua and Barbuda, Barbados, Saint Lucia and Saint Vincent and the Grenadines.

The two top teams from each group in the Super Eight will progress to the semi-finals, which will be held in Guyana and Trinidad and Tobago on Jun 26/27. The final will be held in Barbados on June 29.

Draw for group stage:

Group A: India, Pakistan, Ireland, Canada, USA

Group B: England, Australia, Namibia, Scotland, Oman

Group C: New Zealand, West Indies, Afghanistan, Uganda, Papua New Guinea

Group D: South Africa, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Netherlands, Nepal

L.Leduc--PS