Chevrons warm up match moved

Mehluli Sibanda, Sports Editor

ZIMBABWE will now play their International Cricket Council Men’s T20 World Cup 2022 warm-up fixture against Sri Lanka at the Melbourne Cricket Ground tomorrow.

Initially, the warm-up encounter was scheduled for today but has had to be moved to tomorrow with the ICC giving a change in Zimbabwe’s travel itinerary as the reason the date was altered.

“The ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2022 warm-up fixture between Sri Lanka and Zimbabwe has been rescheduled and will now be played at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on Tuesday, 11 October at 14h30 local time.

“The match was to be played on Monday, 10 October at 19h00 at the same venue as per the original schedule but the change has had to be carried out following a change in Zimbabwe’s travel schedule,” stated the ICC.

Eight of the teams featuring in the first round of the 16-team tournament play their warm-up fixtures from October 10-13 in Melbourne. The Junction Oval is the other venue that will host practice matches for the first round.

Zimbabwe is in Group B where they will take on Ireland, West Indies and Scotland. A top-two finish in the pool will see the Craig Ervine-captained

in the Super 12 where they will face tougher opponents. Afghanistan, Australia, Bangladesh, England, India, New Zealand, Pakistan and South Africa are some of the potential opponents for Zimbabwe should they qualify for the Super 12 phase of the tournament.

Zimbabwe was absent when the 2021 ICC Men’s T20 World Cup was held in the United Arab Emirates and Oman after they missed the qualifying tournament in 2019 due to the country’s membership being suspended. This was after the ICC deemed that the action taken by the Sports and Recreation Commission to suspend the Zimbabwe Cricket board amounted to “third party” interference, a violation of the world cricket governing body’s statutes.

The warm-up fixtures for teams who have direct entries in the Super 12s will be played at two venues in Brisbane – the Gabba and the Allan Border Field – on 17 and 19 October.

The complete warm-up fixtures:
10 Oct – West Indies v UAE, Junction Oval, 11h00
10 Oct – Scotland v Netherlands, Junction Oval, 15h00
11 Oct – Sri Lanka v Zimbabwe, MCG, 14h30
11 Oct – Namibia v Ireland, MCG, 19h00
12 Oct – West Indies v Netherlands, MCG, 19h00
13 Oct – Zimbabwe v Namibia, Junction Oval, 23h00
13 Oct – Sri Lanka v Ireland, Junction Oval, 15h00
13 Oct – Scotland v UAE, MCG, 19h00
17 Oct – Australia v India, The Gabba, 14h00
17 Oct – New Zealand v South Africa, Allan Border Field, 14h00
17 Oct – England v Pakistan, The Gabba, 18h00
17 Oct – Afghanistan v Bangladesh, Allan Border Field, 18h00
19 Oct – Afghanistan v Pakistan, The Gabba 13h00
19 Oct – Bangladesh v South Africa, Allan Border Field, 18h00
19 Oct – New Zealand v India, The Gabba, 18h00 — @Mdawini_29