Fans' guide to the T20 World Cup's Super 12s stage

Welcome to the Super 12s!

The tournament has already been running in the United Arab Emirates for a week, but things step up a notch from tonight with the start of the Super 12 stage, with Australia and South Africa to meet in Abu Dhabi from 9pm AEDT.

How can I watch?

Foxtel and Kayo Sports are the only places to watch this year's T20 World Cup in Australia, the first cricket World Cup event that will have no free-to-air broadcast since 2010.

Foxtel and Kayo will broadcast every one of the tournament's remaining 33 matches exclusively in Australia.

The time difference to the UAE isn't particularly great, especially on the East Coast, so Kayo will upload 30-minute 'Minis' of every game.

You can sign-up for Kayo here, starting with a 14-day free trial.

So, why no free-to-air broadcast? Well, it's complicated. In brief, the Nine Network has a long-standing arrangement with Foxtel to show Australia's matches at World Cup events, which satisfies the requirements of Australia's anti-siphoning legislation.

This event was originally scheduled as a Champions Trophy tournament – which is outside Nine's deal with Foxtel – then changed to a T20 World Cup in 2018. Despite the change, it remains outside Nine's arrangement, hence no broadcast.

More detail, if you want it, is here.

What have I missed so far?

Let's quickly catch you up on the first round: Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Scotland and Namibia are the teams that have qualified for the Super 12s.

That means the tournament is over already for Papua New Guinea, Oman, Netherlands and, surprisingly, Ireland too.

The Irish were one of the favourites to qualify, especially having thumped Bangladesh in a warm-up. And their tournament looked to be charmed when Curtis Campher snared four wickets in as many balls against the Netherlands.

But they were beaten by Namibia on Friday night in what was essentially an elimination game, with former South Africa international David Wiese playing a key role to guide the Eagles into the second stage of an ICC tournament for the first time ever.

Namibia, population 2.5m, with only 16 professionally contracted players, will now play India, Pakistan, New Zealand and Afghanistan in the Super 12s.

Namibia will be joined in the Super 12s by Scotland, who shocked Bangladesh in their opening game and saw off Oman to top Group A and secure their passage to the Super 12s for the first time.

That means Bangladesh, who recovered from their shock loss to Scotland to win their remaining games, go into Australia's group in the Super 12s, along with England, South Africa, West Indies and Sri Lanka.

The Lankans cruised through the first round unbeaten, and routed Netherlands in their latest game for just 44 – the second lowest score ever seen at the T20 World Cup.

Explain the Super 12s for me

The eight teams who automatically qualified for the Super 12s – England, Australia, South Africa, the West Indies, India, Pakistan, New Zealand and Afghanistan – did so as one of the top-eight ranked teams in the world at the cut-off date.

Those eight teams were then split into two groups based on their ranking in March this year.

Each team will play the others in their group once, and the top two teams from each group will progress to the semi-finals.

Group 1: England, Australia, South Africa, West Indies, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh

Group 2: India, Pakistan, New Zealand, Afghanistan, Scotland, Namibia

Click here for the full tournament schedule

When do the Aussies play?

Oct 23v South Africa in Abu Dhabi (2pm local time, 9pm AEDT)

Oct 28v Sri Lanka in Dubai (6pm local time, 1am Oct 29 AEDT)

Oct 30v England in Dubai (6pm local time, 1am Oct 31 AEDT)

Nov 4v Bangladesh in Dubai (2pm local time, 9pm AEDT)

Nov 6v West Indies in Abu Dhabi (2pm local time, 9pm AEDT)

A reminder that all matches are live and exclusive on Fox Cricket and Kayo Sports.

And you can click here for the full T20 World Cup schedule.

Who's in the Aussie squad?

Australia named a 15-player squad, plus three travelling reserves due to the pandemic and quarantine requirements on arrival, featuring just one un-capped player, the wicketkeeper Josh Inglis.

Full squad: Aaron Finch (c), Ashton Agar, Pat Cummins (vc), Josh Hazlewood, Josh Inglis, Mitchell Marsh, Glenn Maxwell, Kane Richardson, Steve Smith, Mitchell Starc, Marcus Stoinis, Mitchell Swepson, Matthew Wade, David Warner, Adam Zampa.

Travelling reserves: Dan Christian, Nathan Ellis, Daniel Sams

You can click here for the full squads of all 16 teams

How's Australia's form?

Australia split their two warm-up games, beating New Zealand in a thriller, but losing comfortably to India, and preparation has been less than ideal.

To summarise: Australia's T20 side lost 4-1 against both the West Indies and Bangladesh on winter tours, while missing a host of first-choice players.

Since returning to action at the IPL, David Warner has been out of sorts, scoring just three runs in four innings across the IPL and warm-up games, but everyone's backing him to come good.

In better news, Aaron Finch has recovered from winter knee surgery and played both warm-up matches, and Marcus Stoinis has recovered from a side strain at the IPL and is fit to bowl.

Pat Cummins was a late arrival to the UAE after the birth of his first child, but played in the second warm-up, and Josh Hazlewood is in hot form having done well on those winter tours and played a key role in Chennai's IPL title win.

Much will rest on the batting of Glenn Maxwell and Mitch Marsh, who have both been in hot form. Maxwell had an impressive IPL campaign with Bangalore, while Marsh was a standout at No.3 in the winter, and will likely retain that spot in the World Cup.

Selection talking points?

Aaron Finch has said Australia will play four specialist bowlers and lean on allrounders in tonight's tournament opener, and given the expectation the side will again feature both Adam Zampa and Ashton Agar in spin friendly conditions, that means a selection squeeze for the quicks.

Mitch Starc is pretty much an automatic pick in white-ball cricket, and Hazlewood's form means he is likely to keep Cummins and Kane Richardson benched, at least in the opening match.

Queensland leg-spinner Mitch Swepson is also with the team and with pitches expected to get slower and lower given the bulk games to be played across three venues, could come into calculations later in the tournament.

The other big talking point is around the wicketkeeper.

Finch has said Matthew Wade will get first crack, but the uncapped Josh Inglis is hot on his heels. What Inglis lacks in international experience he makes up for in form – he dominated in the T20 Blast and the Hundred in the UK in the winter – and has middle-order experience with the Perth Scorchers from last summer.

Inglis enhanced his finishing credentials in Australia's first warm-up match, coolly smacking back-to-back boundaries from his first two balls to ice the game in the final over.

Wade, who opens with the Hobart Hurricanes, will need to adjust quickly to the middle order role required by Australia, or risk losing his spot.

Who are the favourites to win it?

Based on the current T20 world rankings, England (No.1) and India (No.2) are among the leading contenders, but the rankings don't always tell the full story. Way down in ninth spot is a power-packed West Indies side, featuring some of the best T20 players in the world, who many are tipping to defend their title. And given the fickle nature of the 20-over game, where a team's fortunes can change in the space of a single over, it's hard to say with any certainty who will be lifting the trophy on November 15.

Let's talk about team kits

If you're like us, one of the charms of a World Cup is seeing the kit each country has produced, but this tournament has a surprise – for the first time, Australia's men's team will wear a clash strip at a World Cup, and will begin this year's tournament in their alternate kit.

Image Id: FC3D6319035D4248A45E0135825266C5 Image Caption: Australia's two T20 World Cup kits // Getty

Australia's two variations are best shown in the above picture – on the left is a green and gold kit that is the same as what Australia wore at the 2019 ODI World Cup in England, just with a new logo on the right breast.

On the right is the men's version of the kit Meg Lanning's team wore to victory at the 2020 women's T20 World Cup in Australia back in March last year.

This kit was mothballed when the 2020 men's T20 World Cup was postponed amid the pandemic, but at the players' request it was resurrected for this year's rescheduled tournament in the UAE.

The ICC sets the rules on who wears what kit and why – although their reasons remain a closely guarded secret – and it was the ICC's decision to dictate Australia wear the gold kit in their opening match against South Africa, who will wear their green version.

It's likely to be the only time it will be seen in this tournament, with the ICC requiring it also be worn against Scotland and Namibia, who are in the opposite Super 12 group.

There's more detail, if you want it, here.

What happened last time?

Given it is five-and-a-half years since the last T20 World Cup, it's easy to forget that the West Indies are the defending champions after that memorable last over from Carlos Brathwaite against England in Kolkata.

New Zealand and India were the other two semi-finalists last time around, while Australia missed the knockout stage after losing to those two teams while beating Pakistan and Bangladesh.

The Windies were meant to defend their title in Australia 12 months ago, but that tournament was postponed until 2022 due to the pandemic. It means whoever lifts the trophy in a month from now will only be champions for a year before their title goes on the line again.

Anything else to know?

There's a couple of minor changes to the playing conditions from previous events, including the use of the Decision Review System for the first time at a men's T20 World Cup.

The stifling desert heat, and the fact some games will start at 2pm local time, has also contributed to the introduction of mandatory drinks breaks at the 10-over mark of each innings.

There's also some juicy cash prizes on offer, with a total of A$7.6m up for grabs. The winner will pick up more than A$2.1m, the losing finalist half that amount and the two losing semi-finalists will pick up around A$540,000 each.

Looking ahead to the 2022 T20 World Cup

For Scotland and Namibia, qualification to the Super 12s stage this year is absolutely huge for cricket in their nations. Not only does it bring more games and extra prize money, it guarantees them a spot in year's tournament in Australia.

All teams in this year's Super 12s stage have now automatically qualified for next year's event. The two finalists and the next six-highest ranked teams (when the ICC updates its team rankings after the tournament) will go straight through for the Super 12s of next year's event.

The other four teams will return to the first round, where they will be joined by four more teams, who will come through qualifying tournaments early next year.

Teams eliminated in the first round this year – Ireland, Oman, PNG and the Netherlands – will join Nepal, Singapore, the UAE, Zimbabwe, Hong Kong, Philippines, Jersey and Germany plus four more qualifiers from Africa, Americas (2) and Asia in a 16-team tournament battling for four spots at the World Cup.

Additional reporting by Martin Smith