Preparations for the second season of Zim Afro T10 are well and truly on. The franchises have got their squads in place and the Harare Sports Club is all set for the tournament which begins on September 21 and will finish with the grand finale on 29 September.

Season 2 of the Zim Afro T10 will see the teams battle it out over the course of 9 days for the top prize. Each day will comprise three games, with the first scheduled for 3pm local time and 630pm IST. The second game of the day will be at 515pm local time and 845pm IST, while the third game of the day will see the players take the field at 730pm local time and 11pm IST.

A glittering opening ceremony is also scheduled for the opening day, and that is set to commence from 1pm local time. On September 29, after the final, which is scheduled to begin at 530pm local time, there will be a grand closing ceremony to round off the tournament.

The opening game of the tournament will see the Durban Wolves take on the Jo’Burg Bangla Tigers, after which, Cape Town Samp Army and the Harare Bolts will take centre stage. The final game for the day will pit the two remaining franchises, Bulawayo Brave Jaguars and the NYS Lagos.

The second match-day will see the Durban Wolves take on the Harare Bolts in the first game, after which NYS Lagos and Jo’Burg Bangla Tigers will play the second game. The final game of the day will pit the Bulawayo Brave Jaguars against Cape Town Samp Army.
Day 3 will kick off with Harare Bolts playing Jo’Burg Bangla Tigers, followed by the Bulawayo Brave Jaguars taking on Durban Wolves. The final game of the day will see Cape Town Samp Army play NYS Lagos.

NYS Lagos and Durban Wolves will commence the fourth day’s activities, with Harare Bolts and Bulawayo Brave Jaguars taking over the baton after that, and finally handing it over to Jo’Burg Bangla Tigers and Cape Town Samp Army for the final game of the day on the fourth day.

The Harare Bolts and the NYS Lagos will commence Day 5, before Durban Wolves and Cape Town Samp Army play the second game of the day. The final game of the day will see Jo’Burg Bangla Tigers play the Bulawayo Brave Jaguars.

The penultimate day of the league stage will kick off with Durban Wolves playing the Harare Bolts first, and then Jo’Burg Bangla Tigers take on Bulawayo Brave Jaguars, before Cape Town Samp Army and NYS Lagos play the third game of the day.

The final day of the league phase will see Bulawayo Brave Jaguars play Cape Town Samp Army first, and then NYS Lagos takes on Durban Wolves. The final league stage game will be between Harare Bolts and the Jo’Burg Bangla Tigers.

A total of 21 games will be played in the league stage for the Zim Afro T10, and after that the knockout phase will commence. The top 2 teams will square off in Qualifier 1, with the winner going through to the final. The third and fourth placed teams will then play the Eliminator, where the winner goes through to Qualifier 2, to face the runner-up of Qualifier 1. The team that wins Qualifier 2 will eventually play the winner of Qualifier 1 in the final.

Nawab Shaji Ul Mulk, T Ten Global Sports Founder and Chairman, said, “Season 2 of the Zim Afro T10 is definitely going to be bigger and better. The players and teams are all preparing very hard for the tournament, and it promises to be nothing less than a celebration of the sport. Each day has the potential for some great contests, and we hope the fans will also enjoy watching their favourite players go head-to-head.”

The much-awaited second season of the US Masters T10 is coming up soon. But before that, the franchises have had their say and picked their squads, with the eventual goal of first winning the trophy, and also entertaining the crowds in North America.

Like the inaugural edition, the season promises plenty of riveting contests and of course, the big hits as cricket’s fastest and most entertaining format takes centre stage. The likes of Dwayne Bravo, Suresh Raina, Shoaib Malik, Mishab-ul-Haq, James Neesham, Angelo Perera, and Aaron Finch, among others will battle it out for the top prize. With 60 spots up for grabs in the tournament, more than 500 cricketers registered for the Player Draft for Season 2 of the US Masters T10.

The California Bolts came into the Player Draft with James Neesham (New Zealand: Icon), Lliam Plunkett (England: Platinum Grade), Colin de Grandhomme (New Zealand: Global Superstar), Shehan Jayasuriya (Sri Lanka), Bipul Sharma (India) and Lahiru Milantha (USA) already signed up. They went onto add Munaf Patel (India), Martin Guptill (New Zealand), Manpreet Gony (India), Samiullah Shinwari (Afghanistan), Jon-Russ Jaggesar (West Indies), Devendra Bishoo (West Indies), Chris Benjamin (South Africa), Mayank Tehlan (India), Hussain Talat (Pakistan), Kesrick Williams (West Indies) and Dhammika Prasad (Sri Lanka).

The Detroit Falcons roped in Thisara Perera (Sri Lanka: Icon), Abdur Razzak (Pakistan: Platinum Grade), Aaron Finch (Australia: Global Superstar), Dawid Malan (England), Rayad Emrit (West Indies), and Angelo Perera (Sri Lanka) as their direct signings. At the Player Draft, they signed on Denesh Ramdin (West Indies), Mashrafe Mortaza (Bangladesh), Seekkuge Prasanna (Sri Lanka), Chaturanga De Silva (Sri Lanka), Ariful Haque (Bangladesh), Lewis McManus (England), Imran Khan (Pakistan), Syed Rasel (Bangladesh), and Enamul Haque Jr (Bangladesh).

The Chicago Players brought in Parthiv Patel (India: Icon), Isuru Udana (Sri Lanka: Platinum Grade), Suresh Raina (India: Global Superstar), Gurkeerat Singh Mann (India), Anureet Singh (India), Kennar Lewis (West Indies) as their pre-draft singings. The team went ahead and brought in Pawan Negi (India), Kevin O Brien (Scotland), Ishwar Pandey (India), Jesse Ryder (New Zealand), William Perkins (West Indies), Shubham Ranjane (India), Jesal Kariya (India), Abhimanyu Mithun (India), Shapoor Zadran (Afghanistan) and Al-Amin Hossain (Bangladesh) to complete their squad.

The New York Warriors named Misbah-ul-Haq (Pakistan: Icon), Shaun Marsh (Australia: Platinum Grade), Dwayne Bravo (West Indies: Global Superstar), Kamran Akmal (Pakistan), Sohail Khan (Pakistan), and Umaid Asif (Pakistan) in their squad ahead of the draft. The Warriors bolstered the set-up with the additions of Mohammad Hafeez (Pakistan), Richard Gleeson (England), Ben Dunk (England), Sohail Tanvir (Pakistan), Hassan Khan (Pakistan), Manoj Tiwary (India), Unmukt Chand (USA), Chris Wood (England), Sean Dickson (South Africa) and Imran Tahir (South Africa).

The Atlanta Riders announced Nurul Hasan Sohan (Bangladesh: Icon), Ravi Bopara (England: Platinum Grade), Shoaib Malik (Pakistan: Global Superstar), Samit Patel (England), Mohammad Irfan (Pakistan), and Hammad Azam (Pakistan) as their direct signings. At the draft, they picked Ricardo Powell (West Indies), Kevon Cooper (West Indies), Kamrul Islam Rabbi (Bangladesh), Arafat Sunny (Bangladesh), Benny Howell (England), Elias Sunny (Bangladesh), Hamilton Masakadza (Zimbabwe), Rajdeep Darbar (India), and Amila Aponso (Sri Lanka).

The Morrisville Unity camp signed on Harbhajan Singh (India: Icon), Chadwick Walton (West Indies: Platinum Grade), Ashley Nurse (West Indies: Global Superstar), Obus Pienaar (South Africa), Saurabh Tiwary (India), and Shannon Gabriel (West Indies) to begin with. Then, at the draft they added the likes of Rumman Raees (Pakistan), Anwar Ali (Pakistan), Upul Tharanga (Sri Lanka), Chandrapaul Hemraj (West Indies), Mukhtar Ahmed (Pakistan), Jasakran Malhotra (USA), Navin Stewart (West Indies), Carmi Le Roux (South Africa), Yogesh Nagar (India), Jonathan Carter (West Indies) and Rajat Bhatia (India).

Nawab Shaji Ul Mulk, T Ten Global Sports Founder and Chairman, said, “Cricket in US has been growing rapidly, and we want to be a part of this special journey. The ICC T20 World Cup this year made a significant impact in the region, and we want to build on that momentum and carry it forward. With Season 2 of the US Masters, we aim to provide fans with more memorable contests and help accelerate the growth of cricket in a non-traditional market like USA.”

The UAE will host the International Cricket Council (ICC) Women’s T20 World Cup 2024, the first global women’s cricket event to be held in the region.

Organised in partnership with Emirates Cricket Board’s (ECB) and Dubai Sports Council (DSC), the 18-day event will take place in the emirates of Dubai and Sharjah from 3rd to 20th October 2024.

Details of the tournament was announced during a press conference held today at the Dubai Sports Council in the presence of ICC Chief Executive Geoff Allardice, ECB Board Member Zaid Abbas and Khaled Al Awar, Director of Communications and Marketing at Dubai Sports Council.

“One of the exciting things about the UAE is its diversity. It’s a place where the entire world is represented! This means that this is effectively a home World Cup for all 10 teams and players can enjoy the support of passionate fans. With that in mind, I’m delighted to announce today that tickets will be available from just AED5 and under 18s will go free,” Allardice said.

“The Emirates Cricket Board is delighted to stage the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup in the UAE. The Emirates Cricket Board has rich experience and the proven pedigree of hosting top-class cricket, and we are once again ready to deliver another world-class event,” Abbas said.

10 teams from different continents of the world are competing in 23 matches in the tournament: Australia, Scotland, New Zealand, England, South Africa, India, Pakistan, the West Indies, and Bangladesh.

“The tournament will see the best women cricketers from around the world compete for the biggest prize in the T20 format. We are set to witness thrilling contests and brilliant individual and team performances in Dubai and Sharjah during the course of the event.

“The ECB would work closely with all stakeholders including the International Cricket Council and the Bangladesh Cricket Board to ensure that the participants and fans have a memorable time during their stay in the country.”

The 10-team tournament will see a champion team emerge after 23 matches spread across the 18 days.

The 20 league matches will be split between Dubai and Sharjah with the semifinals slated for 17th October in Dubai and 18th October in Sharjah. The final will be played in Dubai.

Group A includes six-time champions Australia, along with India, New Zealand, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka, while Group B comprises Bangladesh, England, South Africa, West Indies, and Scotland.