Firstpost Spodcast Episode 132: Australia to host T20 World Cup in 2020, Qatar thrash UAE amid ugly scenes to reach final and more

Welcome to Spodcast. The schedule for next year’s T20 World Cup was announced on Tuesday. The women’s tournament will be played in February and March of next year while the men’s tournament will be played between October and November. This is the first time that both the T20 World Cups are being held in the same year and in the same country. Hosts Australia will play in the opening matches of both competitions. The reigning champions of the women’s T20 World Cup, Australia, will square off against India in the opening game in Sydney on 21 February. The final will be played on 8 March. The men’s competition will start on 18 October with an Australia-Pakistan match and the final will be played at the MCG in Melbourne on 15 November. There was some drama at the AFC Asian Cup semi-final between Qatar and hosts UAE. The Qatari team, which won the semifinal 4-0, was on the receiving end of jeers and abuses, and were pelted with shoes and bottles during the match. Premier League news. Manchester City’s Premier League title challenge was rocked by a stunning 2-1 defeat at Newcastle, while Manchester United’s late escape preserved Ole Gunner Solskjaer’s unbeaten start in a dramatic 2-2 draw with Burnley on Tuesday. The Indian women’s hockey team registered a 5-2 win over Spain in the third match of the tour on Tuesday. India were in fine form yesterday as they outplayed the World Cup bronze medalists. Lalremsiami scored two goals for India while Neha Goyal, Navneet Kaur and Rani Rampal scored one goal each. A chess update now. Russian chess grandmaster Vladimir Kramnik, regarded as one of the strongest players in the world, announced his retirement from professional competition yesterday. The Indian women’s cricket team defeated New Zealand in the second ODI at Mount Maunganui by eight wickets.