Windies Open World Cup Against Pakistan

The ICC released the fixture list for the ten-team competition, which will revert to a single league round robin format for the first time since 1992, on Thursday.  The games will be played at 11 venues across England and Wales and will begin with England against South Africa at the Kia Oval on May 30.  The top four sides will advance to the semi-finals (July 9 at Old Trafford and July 11 at Edgbaston) with the final staged at Lord’s on July 14.

Following their opening encounter against Pakistan, the Windies will face Australia in another match booked for Trent Bridge on June 6.  The regional team will then shift to The Ageas Bowl where they face world number two-ranked South Africa on June 14, before facing Bangladesh at the County Ground in Taunton on June 17.

The team will play its first day-nighter of the tournament against New Zealand in a June 22 match-up at Old Trafford and face top-ranked India five days later at the same venue.  The Windies will end the preliminary stage with fixtures against Sri Lanka on July 1 and a rematch of the ICC World Cup qualifiers final against Afghanistan on July 4.

The two-time champions faced plenty of drama in order to secure a spot at the tournament, as they were forced to take part in the ICC Cricket World Cup qualifiers after failing to secure a spot as one of the top eight ranked teams in the world by the 2017 cut-off date. 

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