Venues for the 20-20 World Cup finalised, Melbourne to host the final

Seven Australian cities including Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane, Perth, and Adelaide have been finalised to host the 20-20 World Cup 2022. The showpiece event will get underway on October 16, with the grand final set to be played in Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) on November 13. Geelong and Hobart are the likely cities to host the Round 1 matches.

"The event which is scheduled to take place between 16 October and 13 November next year will see a total of 45 matches hosted across Adelaide, Brisbane, Geelong, Hobart, Melbourne, Perth, and Sydney," ICC press release stated.

Sydney Cricket Ground (SCG) and Adelaide Oval will host the semi-finals on November 9 and 10 respectively. Australia and New Zealand, who finished as winners and runners-up respectively in the recently concluded 20-20 World Cup will have a direct entry in the Super 12 stage.

India, Afghanistan, South Africa, England, Pakistan, and Bangladesh have also gained a direct qualification in the Super 12 stage due to their rankings.

Two time 20-20 World Cup champions West Indies, Namibia, Scotland, and Sri Lanka, will play Round 1. The remaining four teams will be announced after the two qualification tournaments in Oman and Zimbabwe next year.

Head of Events Chris Tetley is ecstatic to see the global event return to Australia after two years. "We are looking forward to seeing the return of ICC events to Australia and are delighted to announce the seven host cities for the ICC Men's T20 World Cup 2022.

"Following the success of the ICC Women's T20 World Cup in 2020 and a two-year postponement, our sights are now firmly set on planning for the 2022 event in collaboration with the LOC. With 12 teams already confirmed in the line-up, we eagerly await the culmination of the qualification process to see which other teams will join them," he stated.