SYDNEY: Next year’s Twenty20 World Cup will be held across seven venues in Australia, officials confirmed Tuesday, with Sri Lanka and the West Indies forced to play for a place in the Super 12. The tournament, which was supposed to be held Down Under in 2020 but was pushed back two years due to coronavirus, will take place between October 16 and November 13. A total of 45 matches will be contested across Adelaide, Brisbane, Geelong, Hobart, Melbourne, Perth and Sydney, with the final under lights at the Melbourne Cricket Ground. Sydney and Adelaide will host the semis. “Following the success of the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup in 2020 (in Australia) and a two-year postponement, our sights are now firmly set on planning for the 2022 event,” said International Cricket Council head of events Chris Tetley. Hosts Australia will be defending champions after hammering New Zealand by eight wickets in Dubai on Sunday, with both of this year’s finalists automatically qualifying for the Super 12 stage along with Afghanistan, Bangladesh, England, India, Pakistan and South Africa who are the eight highest-ranked teams. Sri Lanka and the West Indies will play the preliminary round with Namibia, Scotland and four other countries to be determined through two qualifying tournaments —- in Oman in February and in Zimbabwe in June-July, 2022.