Newlands will instead host the opening match between India and defending champions Australia on October 7 to kick off the group stage of the 14th edition of the tournament. Prior to that, the Namibia Cricket Ground in Windhoek will stage the Super Series, a three-team preliminary round which will decide which side makes it to the 12-team main event. Newlands gets a semi-final as well on November 17, with the other knockout game scheduled to take place in SuperSport Park on November 18. Zimbabwe, the co-hosts, are getting five games in the World Cup group stage and they play all of them at home.

The World Cup will be staged between October 2 – to commemorate the birthday of Mahatma Gandhi, who spent two decades working as a lawyer in South Africa – and will conclude on November 21. Co-hosts South Africa begin their campaign against New Zealand – a re-match of the 2026 T20 World Cup semi-final – at Newlands on October 9. Groub A co-hosts Zimbabwe will face Afghanistan in Bulawayo on October 11 to start their journey.

The top three teams of each group will move into the Super 7 phase, with the better fourth-place finisher across the two groups taking the seventh spot. Several teams already have their designations for the Super 7 phase.