Chevrons intensify World Cup preps MEN ON A MISSION . . . ICC T20 World Cup-bound Zimbabwe national cricket team players (from left) Sikandar Raza, Richard Ngarava, Wesley Madhevere and Sean Williams share ideas ahead of a practice game between Zimbabwe A and Zimbabwe XI at the Harare Sports Club yesterday. — Photo by Zimbabwe Cricket

Eddie Chikamhi Senior Sports Reporter

THE Zimbabwe national cricket team will need to step up to the plate if they hope to maximise fully on the earnings at this month’s ICC T20 Men’s World Cup in Australia.

The International Cricket Council yesterday revealed a total package of US$5.6 million for the 16-team tournament that is set to begin on October 16 and ends on March 13.

The prizes remained unchanged from the previous edition which was held in the United Arab Emirates last year. But Zimbabwe, who have not featured in a major tournament since 2016, will be vying for a piece of the US$5.6 million cake for the first time in six years.

The winner is set to walk away with a US$1.6 million cheque, while the losing finalists get half the amount. The ICC announced that there will be bonuses for every game won in the first round and the Super 12 Stage.

Zimbabwe are set to begin their campaign in the first round where a US$40 000 bonus is guaranteed for every game won.

The ICC confirmed the prize structure in a statement yesterday.

“The International Cricket Council (ICC) confirmed today that the team that earns glory at the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2022 on 13 November in Melbourne, will take home a cheque of US$1.6 million.

“The total prize pot of US$5.6m will see the runners-up assured of US$800 000 and the losing semi-finalists will receive US$400 000 each at the end of the 45-match tournament being played across seven venues in Australia from 16 October.

“Following the same structure as the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2021, the eight teams that exit at the Super 12 stage will receive US$70 000 each, with a victory in each of the 30 games in that phase worth US$40 000.

“Afghanistan, Australia, Bangladesh, England, India, New Zealand, Pakistan and South Africa are confirmed to start their tournament at the Super 12 stage.

“The same structure is in place for the first-round victories – with US$40 000 available to those who win each of the 12 games, amounting to US$480 000.

“The four teams knocked out in the first round will get US$40 000 each.

“Teams whose campaigns begin in the first round are Namibia, the Netherlands, Sri Lanka, the United Arab Emirates, Ireland, Scotland, the West Indies and Zimbabwe,” said the ICC statement.

With just two weeks before the tournament gets underway, the Zimbabwe team has since assembled for their final training camp in Harare. They had team bonding sessions during the week and yesterday Zimbabwe Cricket arranged a practice game between Zimbabwe A and Zimbabwe XI.

Morale is high in the Zimbabwe team which appear to have hit the right chords at the appropriate time. There are lots of expectations as the Chevrons look to get their campaign underway on October 17.

The team had last featured in a major ICC World Cup event in 2016. The Chevrons were thrown out of the qualification process for the last edition of the T20 World Cup following the brief suspension of Zimbabwe Cricket’s membership by the ICC.

But they bounced back and managed to host the recent Global Qualifier in Bulawayo and won all their games. Zimbabwe are set to begin their World Cup campaign against Ireland on October 17 in Hobart, Tasmania, before taking on West Indies two days later, in Group B. The Chevrons will then complete their first-round action against Scotland on October 21. The top two teams from the group will join the Super 12 stage, along with the top two teams from Group A which features Sri Lanka, the United Arab Emirates, the Netherlands and Namibia.

Zimbabwe are expected to warm-up for the tournament with practice games against Sri Lanka and Namibia scheduled for October 10 and 13 in Melbourne. Despite their limited exposure to international cricket, Chevrons skipper Craig Ervine said they were not leaving anything to chance.

“All the teams are going to be fighting tooth and nail to qualify for the main event, that’s a given. We have been playing some exceptional cricket of late so I feel the boys are confident that we will put on a good show and qualify.

“It’s not going to be easy, trust me. But we have to have the belief that we can beat any team on any given day.

“The boys have done extremely well to turn the tables on what had been a tough first half of the year and brought a lot more support to the ground at Harare Sports Club over the last couple months.

“This is just the beginning of much bigger things if we can continue with this consistency in results,” said Ervine.

 Prize Money table

Stage Unit Per Team Total

Winners 1 $1 600 000 $1 600 000

Runners-Up 1 $800 000 $800 000

Losing Semi-finalists 2 $400 000 $800 000

Super 12 Wins 30 $40 000 $1 200 000

Super 12 Exit 8 $70 000 $560 000

First Round Win 12 $40 000 $480 000

First Round Exit 4 $40 000 $160 000

Total $5 600 000

You Might Also Like

Comments

Take our Survey

We value your opinion! Take a moment to complete our survey