The New Zealand cricket team will play their ICC World Cup quarter-final in Wellington, if they qualify from their group.
Black Caps' Brendon McCullum (R) celebrates his century as Ross Taylor looks on. Photo: PHOTOSPORT
The International Cricket Council has confirmed that, if the co-hosts Australia and New Zealand were to qualify from Pool A, they would play their quarter-finals in Adelaide and Wellington on March 20 and 21 respectively.
Aside from the hosts, the current ICC ODI Championship table lists the two next-highest ranked teams in Pool A as Sri Lanka and England. If these teams qualify for the quarter-finals, then Sri Lanka will play in Sydney on March 18 and England will play in Melbourne on March 19, irrespective of where in the top four these teams finish in their pool.
Explaining the quarter-final venue allocations, ICC General Manager of Cricket Geoff Allardice says it's customary for the ICC to afford the hosts the opportunity to play knock-out matches at home where possible during a Cricket World Cup.
He says it's also usual for the ICC to assign venues to the higher-ranked teams on the assumption they will progress through the pool stage. This is done to assist teams and spectators with their planning by giving them greater certainty.
However, if any one of the two hosts or the two next highest-ranked Pool A teams fail to reach the quarter-finals, then the team that qualifies instead will play at the venue that was allocated to the side that did not qualify.
As far as the semi-finals are concerned, if Australia and New Zealand qualify, they will play at home unless they are scheduled to meet each other. In this case, the side that finished higher in Pool A will host the match.
