Lords Cricket Ground to Host World Cup Matches

The 2019 Cricket World Cup is scheduled to commence from May 30th onwards. Today, the International Cricket Council (ICC) confirmed the schedule for the 2019 World Cup. The tournament will be staged in England and Wales with the iconic Lords cricket ground to host five fixtures during the tournament.

Lords’ first championship match will see Pakistan take on South Africa on Sunday 23rd June. This match takes place a few days before England face off against Australia on Tuesday 25th June.

Australia will return to the legendary ground on Saturday 29th June to play neighbours, New Zealand in a day/night contest. The final group fixture at Lord’s will be a contest between Pakistan and Bangladesh on Friday 5th July.

This won’t be the last we see of Lords Cricket Ground in the tournament as it plays host to the final of the tournament. It will be the fifth time that the pitch has received the honour.

The full list of fixtures at Lord’s during the 2019 ICC Cricket World Cup is as follows.

England kicks off the tournament at The Oval on May 30 when they will face South Africa. Meanwhile, defending champions Australia will play on June 1 against Qualifier champions Afghanistan in a day/night match in Bristol.

1983 and 2011 world champions, India, will play their first match on June 5 against the Proteas at the Hampshire Bowl in Southampton. They will face Australia next on 9th June, followed by New Zealand on 13th June. Their feature match against archrivals Pakistan will be on June 16 at Old Trafford in Manchester. India then face Afghanistan on 22nd June and West Indies on 27th June. India then face the hosts England on 30th June and Bangladesh on 2nd July. India’s final league match is against Sri Lanka on 6th July.

The World Cup consists of 48 matches in all, of which 45 comprise the group stage. Each team plays nine group stage matches, and the top four will progress to the semifinals. The format resembles the one that the 1992 World Cup followed.