Sri Lanka, Bangladesh fail to secure direct qualification to T20 WC Super 12s
Dubai, Jan 1: Former champions Sri Lanka and Bangladesh have failed to get direct qualification for the men's T20 World Cup's Super 12s owing to their low rankings and will have to fight for a place in a group stage competition in 2020.
The International Cricket Council (ICC) Tuesday stated that top-ranked Pakistan, India, England, Australia, South Africa, New Zealand, the Windies and an on-the-rise Afghanistan will start their campaign directly in the Super 12s.
But former champions and three-time finalists Sri Lanka and Bangladesh will have to contend with the other six qualifiers in the group stage of the tournament, which will be held from October 18 to November 15, 2020.
As per the qualification criteria, the top eight make it straight to the Super 12s stage while the remaining two have to play in the group stage along with teams, which will make it through from the ICC T20 World Cup Qualifier in 2019. Four teams from the group stage will advance to the Super 12s.
Sri Lanka captain Lasith Malinga was disappointed at 2014 champions not making it to the Super 12s but was confident of the team doing well in the tournament.
"It is a bit disappointing that we have not been able to ensure a direct Super 12s berth but I'm confident that we will do well in the tournament," Malinga said.
"it is natural that everyone expected us to finish in the top-eight but we have to take the opportunity in the extra matches of the group stage and prepare well for the knock-out matches," he added.
Bangladesh captain Shakib Al Hasan said that recent performances had given his team the belief to respond well to the challenge.
"I see no reason why we can't go far in the tournament. There is still some time and we will use it to be at our best for the T20 World Cup.”
"We won a T20 series against the West Indies, the world champions, in their backward not so long ago. That performance has given us a lot of belief in our Twenty20 capabilities," he said.
Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.
First direct US-Venezuela commercial flight in 7 years to land in Caracas
Caracas (Venezuela) (AP): The first direct commercial flight between the United States and Venezuela is scheduled to land on Thursday in the Venezuelan capital, Caracas, seven years after the US Department of Homeland Security ordered an indefinite suspension, citing security concerns.
The resumption of a commercial flight between the two countries comes in the wake of the US capture of Nicolás Maduro in a stunning nighttime raid on his residence in Caracas, Venezuela's capital, in early January.
It also comes a month after the US formally reopened its embassy in Caracas following the restoration of full diplomatic relations with the South American country.
Flight AA3599 operated by Envoy Air, a subsidiary of American Airlines, was scheduled to depart from Miami at 10:16 a.m. local time and arrive three hours later in the Venezuelan capital, returning to Florida later in the afternoon.
Earlier, the airline said a second daily flight between Miami and Caracas will start on May 21.
In late January, US President Donald Trump said he informed Venezuela's acting President Delcy Rodríguez that he would open up all commercial airspace over Venezuela, allowing Americans to visit.
“American citizens will be very shortly able to go to Venezuela, and they'll be safe there,” Trump said at the time.
The flights mark the resumption of nonstop travel between the US and Venezuela for the first time since diplomatic ties were severed in 2019. For the past seven years, passengers have relied on international airlines and indirect routes through neighbouring Latin American countries.
In January, when the airline announced the resumption of flights it said it would give customers the opportunity to reunite with families and pursue new business opportunities.
American Airlines was the last US airline flying to Venezuela. It suspended flights in 2019 between Miami and Caracas, as well as flights to the oil hub city of Maracaibo. Delta and United Airlines pulled out in 2017 amid a political crisis that forced millions to flee the country.
