India kick off World T20 against New Zealand on March 15

MUMBAI (Reuters) – Hosts India will kick off the Super 10 stage of the World Twenty20 on March 15 in Nagpur against New Zealand, the International Cricket Council (ICC) said on Friday while announcing the fixtures for the sixth edition of the tournament.

Mumbai’s Wankhede Stadium and the Ferozeshah Kotla in New Delhi will host the two semi-finals while Kolkata’s Eden Gardens will stage the final of the 27-day tournament, to be held across eight venues in India from March 8-April 3.

Eight teams have been split into two groups for the qualifying stage from March 8-13. Two of them will progress to the Super 10 stage of the event, which will see a 86 percent jump in total prize money to $5.6 million for the men’s section from the last edition in Bangladesh in 2014.

The total prize money for the women’s event, to be played simultaneously with the men’s, is $400,000, a 122 per cent increase from the previous event.

Defending men’s champions Sri Lanka have been placed in group one of the Super 10 stage along with South Africa, West Indies, England and a qualifier.

Group two of the Super 10 stage will see hosts India, who won the inaugural tournament in South Africa in 2007, pooled alongside arch-rivals Pakistan, Australia, New Zealand and another qualifier.

The high-voltage match between bitter neighbours India and Pakistan will be played on March 19 in picturesque Dharamsala.

(Reporting by Sudipto Ganguly; editing by Amlan Chakraborty)