T20 WC: Super 12 Stage Begins Today

The Super 12 stage of the ongoing ICC T20 World Cup is set to begin on Saturday, with a match between Australia and South Africa in Abu Dhabi.

Eight teams have qualified to this stage directly while four, including Bangladesh and Sri Lanka, progressed from Round of this edition of the T20 World Cup, reports UNB.

Bangladesh and Scotland marched to the Super 12 stage, beating Oman and Papua New Guinea, respectively, from Group B in Round 1, while Sri Lanka and Namibia made it beating the Netherlands and Ireland, respectively.

In the second match of the first day of the Super 12s, England will take on the West Indies at 8pm in Dubai.

On the second day, four Asian teams will take the field -- Bangladesh will lock horns with Sri Lanka at 4pm at Sharjah while arch-rivals Pakistan and India will face off at 8pm in Dubai.

Namibia qualifying to the Super 12 stage has come as the biggest surprise. It was expected that Sri Lanka and either Ireland or the Netherlands would make it to the next phase, but Namibia beat both Ireland and the Netherlands to seal a spot in the Super 12s.

David Wiese and Gerhard Erasmus played exceptionally well for Namibia, scoring 100 and 105, respectively, in three matches of Round 1. They could be a big threat for the big teams of Group 2 in the Super 12s.

Meanwhile, after losing the first match of Round 1, Bangladesh beat Oman and Papua New Guinea in two consecutive matches to ensure a berth in the Super 12s. They will now face more non-Asian teams at this stage, which may be more helpful for them to make it to the semis.

Bangladesh have arrived in the UAE from Oman and started preparations for the Super 12s.