England to face West Indies as Twenty20 World Cup schedule announced

The defending champions will take on England in the opening day of the Super 12s in Dubai.

Eoin Morgan’s England side will play its opening match of this year’s men’s Twenty20 World Cup against the West Indies (Owen Humphreys/PA) (PA Wire)

England’s opening match of this year’s men’s Twenty20 World Cup will be against defending champions West Indies organisers have announced.

The sides will meet in the Super 12s on October 23 in Dubai with England then playing the eventual runner-up in Group B on October 27 in Abu Dhabi before taking on Australia on October 30 in Dubai and the winner of Group A on November 1 in Sharjah.

The tournament’s semi finals will be held in Abu Dhabi on November 10 and Dubai on November 11, with the marquee clash scheduled in the latter city on November 14.

England captain Eoin Morgan said in an International Cricket Council statement: “The ICC Men’s T20 World Cup is going to be brilliant.

“The standard of T20 cricket around the world is improving exponentially and every nation has a chance of becoming World Champions. It should be one of the closest and most competitive world tournaments to date and we can’t wait to get started,” he added.

In round one of the tournament Ireland tackle Holland on October 18, Sri Lanka on October 20 and Namibia on October 22.

Scotland face Bangladesh on October 17, Papua New Guinea on October 19 and Oman on October 21.