LAHORE: The International Cricket Council (ICC) on Friday announced the groups and schedule of the ICC World Twenty20 2016 to be staged across eight venues in India from March 8 to April 3. India, Pakistan, New Zealand and Australia are placed in Group 2 of the Super 10s stage while South Africa, England, West Indies and Sri Lanka are in Group 1. Two teams will join the Super 10s after the first stage of the tournament to be held in Dharamsala and Nagpur between March 8 and 13. The eight teams competing in the first round have also been split into two groups. Bangladesh, Netherlands, Ireland and Oman have been slotted into Group A, while Group B comprises Zimbabwe, Scotland, Afghanistan and Hong Kong. The top team from Group A will join India, Pakistan, Australia and New Zealand in Group 2 of the Super 10s stage, while the top-placed team from Group B moves to Group 1. The opening match of the Super 10s stage will be played between India and New Zealand on March 15 in Nagpur. The hosts will then play Pakistan on March 19, the qualifying team in the group on March 23 in Bangalore and Australia in Mohali on March 27. The top two sides from each of the Super 10s groups will move into the semi-finals. The semi-finals will be played in Delhi and Mumbai on March 30 and 31 respectively, with the finals in Kolkata on April 3. Pakistan, should they qualify, will play their semi-final in New Delhi regardless of whether they place first or second in their group; the other qualifier from their group will play the semi-final allotted to Mumbai. This will avoid a scenario where Pakistan play in Mumbai, where a local political party, the Shiv Sena, has for several years “banned” Pakistan matches in that city. The most recent protest was in October, when Shiv Sena held protests at the BCCI office in Mumbai over talks between the India and Pakistan boards for a proposed series. Following the protests, the ICC withdrew Aleem Dar from the last two ODIs of the South Africa series (the fifth match was held in Mumbai) and former Pakistan cricketers Wasim Akram and Shoaib Akhtar, who were in India on commentary duty, also returned home early. Defending champions Sri Lanka will begin their campaign against the qualifying team on March 17 in Kolkata, before playing West Indies in Bangalore on March 20. Their matches against England and South Africa will be played in Delhi on March 26 and 28 respectively. A total of 35 matches will be played in the 27-day tournament in Bengaluru, Chennai, Dharamsala, Kolkata, Mohali, Mumbai, Nagpur and New Delhi. The event carries a total prize money of $5.6million, which is an 86 percent increase from the 2014 tournament. ICC Chief Executive David Richardson said in a statement: “The ICC World Twenty20 is an event which puts the world’s best cricketers in the shortest format of the game against each other in a nation versus nation contest. The Twenty20 format provides the perfect vehicle by which the ICC can further globalise the game, providing international exposure and opportunity to our top Associate and Affiliate members. The World Twenty20 event structure is designed to provide highly competitive matches throughout, with eight evenly-matched sides fighting it out in the first round and the best two then getting in the mix with the top eight ranked teams in the Super 10 stage where the intensity and competition will be of the very highest level.” First round group winners to progress to second round: Group A: Bangladesh, Netherlands, Ireland and Oman Group B: Zimbabwe, Scotland, Hong Kong and Afghanistan Second round groups: Super 10 Group 1: Sri Lanka, South Africa, West Indies, England and winner group B (Q1B) Super 10 Group 2: India, Pakistan, Australia, New Zealand and winner group A (Q1A) SCHEDULE Tue Mar 8: Zimbabwe v Hong Kong, Scotland v Afghanistan at Nagpur Wed Mar 9: Bangladesh v Netherlands, Ireland v Oman at Dharamsala Thu Mar 10: Scotland v Zimbabwe; Hong Kong v Afghanistan at Nagpur Fri Mar 11: Netherlands v Oman, Bangladesh v Ireland at Dharamsala Sat Mar 12: Zimbabwe v Afghanistan, Scotland v Hong Kong at Nagpur Sun Mar 13: Netherlands v Ireland, Bangladesh v Oman at Dharamsala Tue Mar 15: New Zealand v India at Nagpur Wed Mar 16: West Indies v England at Mumbai, Pakistan v Q1A at Kolkata Thu Mar 17: Sri Lanka v Q1B at Kolkata Fri Mar 18: Australia v New Zealand at Dharamsala, South Africa v England at Mumbai Sat Mar 19: India v Pakistan at Dharamsala Sun Mar 20: South Africa v Q1B at Mumbai, Sri Lanka v West Indies at Bengaluru Mon Mar 21: Australia v Q1A at Bengaluru Tue Mar 22: New Zealand v Pakistan at Mohali Wed Mar 23: England v Q1B at New Delhi, India v Q1A at Bengaluru Fri Mar 25: Pakistan v Australia at Mohali; South Africa v West Indies at Nagpur Sat Mar 26: Q1A v New Zealand at Kolkata, England v Sri Lanka at New Delhi Sun Mar 27: India v Australia at Mohali, Q1B v West Indies at Nagpur Mon Mar 28: South Africa v Sri Lanka at New Delhi Tue Mar 29: Rest/travel day Wed Mar 30: Semi-final (Super 10 Group 1 second v Super 10 Group 2 first) at New Delhi Thu Mar 31: Semi-final (Super 10 Group 1 first v Super 10 Group 2 second at Mumbai Fri Apr 1- Rest/travel day Sat Apr 2: Rest/travel day Sun April 3: Final at Kolkata.