The ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2024 tournament started this month. There’s a considerable buzz over the venues of the World Cup. The group stage matches will be played in USA and West Indies venues with the Super Eight and beyond moving exclusively to the Caribbeans. Here’s everything you need to know about this year’s T20 World Cup venues.  Venues in the USA  Central Broward Park – Florida Central Broward Park in Lauderhill, Florida is one of two dedicated cricket stadiums in the USA. The stadium started operating on 9th November 2007 at a construction cost of 70 million USD with a capacity of 25,000.  Central Broward Park marks a lot of firsts for US Cricket. It’s the first pitch to receive ICC certification, the first stadium in the USA to host a T20 series in 2010, and USA’s first ODI series which also marked the home country’s first ODI win.  The stadium will host 4 group-stage games in the World Cup including one each of the USA, India, and Pakistan along with three warm-up matches.  Read more: Squad Analysis of Sri Lanka for ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2024 Nassau County International Cricket Stadium – New York The Nassau County International Cricket Stadium is a modular stadium made specifically for the T20 World Cup. The stadium is situated on the grounds of Eisenhower Park in East Meadow, New York. After the World Cup, the outfield is slated to be left intact as a legacy of the event.  The stadium's design was unveiled by ICC on 17th January 2024 with a seating capacity of 34,000. It was officially inaugurated by Usain Bolt on 15th May.  The stadium will host 8 group stage matches including the high voltage India vs Pakistan on 9th June.   Grand Prairie Stadium – Texas Grand Prairie Stadium in Dallas, Texas is the second of the two dedicated cricket stadiums in the USA. The stadium used to be the home ballpark of Texas AirHogs. After the AirHogs folded in 2020, American Cricket Enterprise acquired the lease of the stadium with a 20 million USD redevelopment program. It has a seating capacity of 15,000.  Read more: Stars who can be game-changers for Bangladesh in T20 World Cup The stadium will feature 4 matches of the World Cup including Bangladesh vs Sri Lanka on 7th June. The host country USA also has two matches scheduled against Canada and Pakistan here.  Venues in the West Indies  Sir Vivian Richards Stadium – Antigua and Barbuda Sir Vivian Richards stadium is located in North Sound, St. George. The stadium was established in 2006 for the 2007 ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup. It has a seating capacity of 10,000 with possible arrangements for capacity extensions.  The stadium will feature 8 games with 4 group matches and 4 super eight matches. Notable group matches include Australia vs Namibia and England vs Namibia on the 11th and 15th of June respectively. One of the best things about Sir Vivian Richards stadium is the in-house food. Spectators can enjoy the signature local lobster, ducana, saltfish, pepperpot, and jerk chicken on the stadium grounds.  Read more: Analysis of India Squad for the ICC Men’s T20 World 2024 Kensington Oval – Barbados Kensington Oval is the premier and the oldest cricket stadium in Barbados. The stadium was built in 1871 and has since featured local and international games in its illustrious run. It is currently under the management of the Barbados Cricket Association and has a seating arrangement of around 28,000.  Kensington Oval will host 9 matches in the tournament including the all-important final. There will be 5 group stage matches including the high voltage England vs Australia on 8th June. The stadium will also feature 3 Super Eight stage matches.  The majority of the concessionaires will be situated at the western concourse of the stadium. Additionally, each stand will have its own food operations.  Guyana National Stadium – Guyana The Guyana National Stadium was constructed in 2006 ahead of the 2007 ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup. The stadium has a capacity of around 20,000 and can be converted into a multi-use facility in addition to a cricket stadium. The ground is most notable for the 2007 World Cup match between Sri Lanka and South Africa where the Sri Lankan pacer Lasith Malinga took 4 consecutive wickets in 4 balls, a first in cricketing history.  Read more: Shakib keen to play another T20 World Cup Guyana National Stadium will host 6 matches in the T20 World Cup. Five of these matches will be group stage ones and the 2nd semi-final on 27th June.  Daren Sammy Cricket Ground – St. Lucia The Daren Sammy Cricket Ground is situated in Gros Islet, St. Lucia. The stadium was founded in 2002 and has a seating capacity of around 15,000.   The stadium holds the prestigious position as a standard for all current and future stadiums in the Caribbean owing to its high facilities. This year, the stadium will host 6 games of the World Cup with 3 group-stage games and 3 Super Eight games. One of the group stages games will feature the host West Indies taking on Afghanistan on 17th June.  The stadium itself has several food stalls offering meats, seafood, Halal, vegan, vegetarian options, snacks, and desserts. Read more: T20 World Cup matches to be broadcasted on Nagorik TV and Toffee Arnos Vale Ground – St. Vincent and Grenadines Arnos Vale Stadium is located in Kingstown, St. Vincent. The stadium held its first international match back in 1981. Today the stadium is part of the Arnos Vale Sports Complex and works as a multi-sports ground. This is the same stadium where Bangladesh recorded their maiden test victory over West Indies in 2009.  The Arnos Vale stadium will feature 3 group stages and 2 Super Eight matches. Bangladesh will face the Netherlands and Nepal in this stadium on the 13th and 16th of June respectively.  Brian Lara Cricket Academy – Trinidad and Tobago Brian Lara Cricket Academy stadium is situated in Tarouba, Trinidad and Tobago. The stadium was inaugurated in 2017. Initially, the plan was to inaugurate the stadium for the warm-up matches of the 2007 Men’s Cricket World Cup. However, the plan was later postponed. The stadium has a total capacity of around 15,000.  The ground will host 4 group stage matches and the first semifinal on 26th June. The stadium also hosted 4 warm-up matches leading up to the World Cup.  Read more: Fixtures of Bangladesh Team in the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2024 The stadium offers a unique gastronomic experience with Indo-Caribbean dishes, creoles, and local favorite “Bake n Shark”.  Final Words  In addition to the 9 stadiums listed above, Queen’s Park Oval in Trinidad and Tobago was also selected to host 4 warm-up games leading up to the main event. It’s a unique opportunity as ICC plans to make a resounding impact on cricket in North America with this mega event.  One thing to note is that no food and beverages are allowed in any of the USA stadiums. But thankfully, every ground will have cart operations right outside the stadium premises. With the event already underway, all eyes are now on the USA and West Indies to see who becomes the champion of the 2024 ICC Men’s T20 World Cup.  Read more: ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2024: Groups, Match Fixtures, and Venues

Bangladesh finished arguably the most mortifying series on Saturday night when they won by 10 wickets against the USA but lost the 3-match series by 2-1. USA, who are currently 19th in the ICC T20I ranking, have registered their only 2nd and 3rd wins against a test-playing side in the 2024 US vs BAN T20I series. Let’s take a look at the possible reasons for the miserable performance of the Tigers.  How the Series Went The 3-match series was won by the USA by 2-1. They wrapped up the series in the first two games after winning by 5 wickets and 6 runs. The stats table suggests that the best performers of the series are from Bangladesh. Yet the US team got a better outcome than the Bangladesh team in this series. The first game saw Bangladesh batting first and registering a score of 153. It was a good recovery considering Bangladesh were 65/2 after 10 overs. Tawhid Hridoy’s 58(47) and Mahmudullah Riyad’s 31(22) gave Bangladesh a fighting total. Steven Taylor picked 2 wickets for 9 runs in his 3 overs.  In response, the USA were 99/5 after the 16th over needing 55 off 24 deliveries. From here, Harmeet Singh scored a blistering 33 off 13 and made a partnership of 62(31) with Corey Anderson (34 off 25) to ensure the victory of the USA and bagged the man of the match award. Mustafizur Rahman picked up a couple of wickets but gave away 41 runs.  Read more: Third T20I v USA: Bangladesh break records in consolation win that fails to console The 2nd game saw an even poorer Bangladesh side. The bowlers might have done a good job restricting the USA for 144. But the batters didn’t complement them. Bangladesh needed 26 runs from 24 balls at one stage with 5 wickets in hand. But a brilliant 9-ball spell from Ali Khan which saw him grabbing 3 wickets for only 9 runs was enough to hand USA the victory. He picked the man of the match in this game. The 3rd game was a mere formality but saw the best of Bangladesh in the series. Thanks to Mustafizur Rahman’s career-best figure of 4-1-10-6, Bangladesh restricted the USA to 104/9. The small target was chased down by the opening partnership of Soumya Sarkar (43* off 28) and Tanzid Tamim (58* off 42) with 50 balls and 10 wickets to spare. The latter scored his 3rd half-century in a career of seven games.