2020 ICC Twenty20 World Cup betting

The next edition of the ICC Twenty20 World Cup will be held in Australia in October and November of 2020, with Australia and India early favourites to win the tournament.

The Aussies are in the market because of their outstanding record on their home grounds, while India are a perennial power in the short forms of the game, as well as Test cricket.

England have emerged as serious players in T20 cricket in recent times and they are third favourites at $6. Defending champion the West Indies are paying $9.

Twenty20 cricket: Welcome to the biggest show

Many aficionados of the game are impatiently waiting for the T20 bubble to burst. It’s killing cricket, they say. Cricket is a gentleman’s game and the frenetic nature of the short form is eroding the patience and techniques of batsmen, and forcing bowlers to abandon all pretense at guile and trickery.

Well, to some extent we at World Gambling List agree. (Yes, yes, I know, we are dinosaurs and need to get with the program).

However, fans worldwide have voted with their backsides; they love the big hitting and the excitement, so Twenty20 is here to stay. Exhibit A: a T20 match at the MCG in January 2016 between Melbourne teams the Stars and the Renegades attracted more than 80,000 fans. Exhibit B: Check out the crowds for every match in the IPL!

The shortest form of the game has also proved a smash hit with gamblers, with astronomical amounts turned over on events such as Australia’s Big Bash, India’s IPL and England’s T20 Blast, for starters.

And so to Australia in 2020, where the ICC World Twenty20 seems certain to attract massive crowds, television audiences and betting turnover.

Quick guide to the 2020 ICC World Twenty20 in Australia

Dates: October 18-November 15, 2020

First match: Sri Lanka v qualifier, Kardinia Park, Geelong, October 18, 2020.

Defending champions: West Indies, defeated England by four wickets in the 2016 final. England 9-155 (20 overs) v West Indies 6-161 (19.4 overs) at Eden Gardens, Kolkata, India. Player of the match: Marlon Samuels (WI).

The draw: Sixteen teams will compete for the title, with a total of 45 matches. The top eight teams – Australia, Pakistan, India, England, South Africa, New Zealand, West Indies and Afghanistan – go directly into the Super 12 stage. They will be joined there by four teams from the group stage. Bangladesh and Sri Lanka will contest this stage alongside six other qualifiers.

Super 12s: This stage is split into two groups:
Group 1: Pakistan, Australia, New Zealand, West Indies plus two teams who qualify from the group stage.
Group 2: India, England, South Africa, Afghanistan plus two teams who qualify from the group stage.

The top two teams from each group after the Super 12s advance to the semi-finals.

Semi-final 1: TBC v TBC, November 11, Sydney Cricket Ground.

Semi-final 2: TBC v TBC, November 12, Adelaide Oval.

Final: winner semi-final 1 v winner semi-final 2, November 15, 2020, Melbourne Cricket Ground.

Results of past ICC World Twenty20s

Year Winners Runners-up Host nation/s
2007 India Pakistan South Africa
2009 Pakistan Sri Lanka England
2010 England Australia West Indies
2012 West Indies Sri Lanka Sri Lanka
2014 Sri Lanka India Bangladesh
2016 West Indies England India
2020 ?? ?? Australia
2021 ?? ?? India

World Twenty20 rankings

(As at January 21, 2020)

1 Pakistan
2 Australia
3 England
4 South Africa
5 India
6 New Zealand
7 Afghanistan
8 Sri Lanka
9 Bangladesh
10 West Indies

Betting on the 2020 ICC World Twenty20

In early markets, bookmakers have installed home team Australia as the marginal favourites ahead of India, who will be strongly fancied to land a second title.

As the tournament approaches and squads are finalised, there will be many more markets on offer.

Most of the action will take place on individual match bets but there will also be a string of interesting player bets such as top run scorer and top wicket taker (both overall and for individual teams), most sixes, head-to-head match-ups and so on.

Who will win the 2020 ICC World Twenty20?

We would like to be able to declare that we know who will win, so our followers can place their bets early and clean up.

But T20 is unpredictable and games can be won and lost with the toss of the coin or a dropped catch here and there. The six previous editions of the tournament have thrown up five different winners, and it will be no surprise if Australia, New Zealand or South Africa land a first title.
We will wait until a little closer to the tournament before making our predictions.