Dubai, Nov 16 (Cricket news) Seven Australian cities, including Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane, Perth and Adelaide, will host the ICC Men's T20 World Cup from October 16 to November 13 next year.

The other two cities which will in all likelihood host the Round 1 matches include Geelong and Hobart with the iconic Melbourne Cricket Ground hosting the final.

"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.

The semi-finals will be held at the Sydney Cricket Ground and Adelaide Oval on November 9 and 10, respectively.

Among the countries that have directly qualified for the Super 12 are defending champions Australia and runner-up New Zealand.

Along with the finalists, Afghanistan, Bangladesh, England, India, Pakistan and South Africa, which are the next highest ranked teams, will gain direct entry into the Super 12 stage.

Namibia, Scotland, Sri Lanka and the two-time champions West Indies will play in Round 1.

The four remaining spots at Australia 2022 will be filled via the ongoing qualification pathway, culminating in two global qualifying tournaments one to take place in Oman in February and the other in Zimbabwe in June/July.

Head of Events, Chris Tetley said:"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.

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news Source : PTI