Canadian men to open T20 cricket World Cup against U.S. in Dallas on June 1
Canada will also face Ireland, Pakistan and India in Group A play
Canada and the U.S. will meet June 1 at the Grand Prairie Cricket Stadium in Dallas to kick off the ICC (International Cricket Council) Men's T20 World Cup.
The West Indies, which is co-hosting the 55-game tournament with the U.S., opens June 2 against Papua New Guinea at the Guyana National Stadium.
Canada will then meet Ireland on June 7 and Pakistan on June 11, with both games in suburban New York, before wrapping up Group A play against India on June 15 in Lauderhill, Fla.
Dassanayake, who returned for a second stint as Canada men's cricket coach in July 2022 after holding the position from 2007-2011, coached the United States from 2016 to 2019.
"I'm very emotional to see that both these countries are playing each other in a World Cup opener," said Dassanayake, the former Sri Lankan international, who also represented Canada as a player after emigrating to the country.
"North American cricket will have the attention of the world and I'm so happy for that."
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Led by captain Saad Bin Zafar, the Canadian men qualified for their first T20 World Cup in October, defeating Bermuda by 39 runs to win the four-team ICC Men's T20 World Cup Americas Region Final. Canada and Bermuda both finished with 4-1-0 records with one no-result. But Canada, which lost to Bermuda by 86 runs in its opening match, won the tournament by a superior net run rate (3.98 to 2.41).
The Canadians failed to qualify for the eight previous editions of the T20 World Cup, which has expanded to 20 teams in 2024 and will be the first ICC World Cup event to feature matches in the U.S.
"That's what we play cricket for," Zafar told CBC Sports. "We want to play against the best in the world and we're getting that opportunity now in the World Cup. "Canada has never played India before, ever. I'm super thrilled and looking forward to this amazing—beautiful journey."
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Group B is made up of defending champion England, Australia, Namibia, Scotland and Oman. Group C consists of New Zealand, the West Indies, Afghanistan, Uganda and Papua New Guinea while Group D is South Africa, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, the Netherlands and Nepal.
The top two teams in each group move on to the Super Eights, to be played in Antigua and Barbuda, Barbados, Saint Lucia and Saint Vincent and the Grenadines.
The two top teams from each pool in the Super Eight then move on to the semifinals in Guyana and Trinidad and Tobago on June 26 and 27 June, respectively. The final will be held June 29 at the Kensington Oval in Barbados.
'Rivalry and history'
Rivals India and Pakistan will face off June 9 in a 34,000-seat modular stadium some 50 kilometres east of downtown Manhattan in Nassau County. Eight matches will be played at the venue.
India's match against Pakistan at the 2023 One Day International Men's Cricket World Cup in October saw live concurrent viewership peaks of 76 million on linear broadcast and 35 million on digital according to the ICC.
First-round matches in the U.S. will be split between Nassau County International Cricket Stadium (New York), Grand Prairie Cricket Stadium (Dallas) and Broward County Stadium (Lauderhill).
West Indies, which hosted the event in 2010, will hold matches at Sir Vivian Richards Stadium (Antigua and Barbuda), Kensington Oval (Barbados), Guyana National Stadium (Guyana), Daren Sammy Cricket Ground (Saint Lucia), Arnos Vale (Saint Vincent and The Grenadines) and Brian Lara Cricket Academy (Trinidad and Tobago).
The Canada-U.S. rivalry is considered the oldest in international cricket, given the two met in what is thought to be the first international cricket match in 1844, 33 years prior to England's meeting against Australia. Canada won the two-innings match by 23 runs that day at the St. George's Cricket Club in Manhattan.
"The U.S. and Canada have that rivalry and history—both teams are very balanced," Zafar added. "We usually have a lot of exciting games with the U.S. so we are hoping to see another exciting and close one as the first game of the World Cup."
With files from CBC Sports' Marcus Rebelo
