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COLOMBO: Australia’s Rodney Tucker and Paul Reiffel will stand in the middle for the opening Super Eights match of the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2026 when New Zealand face Pakistan in Colombo on Saturday.
The International Cricket Council confirmed the officiating appointments for the next phase of the tournament, which moves into the decisive Super Eights stage across Sri Lanka and India.
South Africa’s Allahudien Paleker will serve as TV Umpire for the Colombo opener, with Australia’s Sam Nogajski named as Fourth Umpire.
Tucker will remain in Sri Lanka for Pakistan’s clash with co-hosts Sri Lanka in Kandy on Feb. 28, where he will partner Nogajski on-field. Nogajski is also scheduled to officiate England’s meeting with Pakistan at the same venue on Feb. 24 alongside India’s Nitin Menon.
England’s matches in Kandy will also feature South Africa’s Adrian Holdstock and Pakistan’s Ahsan Raza, who will take charge of the Feb. 22 contest against Sri Lanka and the Feb. 27 fixture against New Zealand.
Paleker returns to on-field duties on Feb. 25 in Colombo, where he will stand with Pakistan’s Asif Yaqoob for Sri Lanka’s meeting with New Zealand.
Group 1 begins on Feb. 22 with co-hosts India playing South Africa. England’s Richard Kettleborough and New Zealand’s Chris Gaffaney have been appointed as on-field umpires, assisted by TV Umpire Alex Wharf and Fourth Umpire Chris Brown.
Gaffaney and Wharf will also oversee India’s final Super Eight match against West Indies in Kolkata on March 1, while Wharf and Kettleborough are the on-field pair for India’s Feb. 26 game against Zimbabwe.
Zimbabwe, unbeaten in the group stage, face West Indies in Mumbai on Feb. 23 with England’s Richard Illingworth and India’s Jayaraman Madanagopal standing in the middle.
Bangladesh’s Shahid Saikat and Sri Lanka’s Kumar Dharmasena will officiate West Indies’ match against South Africa on Feb. 26, with Dharmasena later partnering Illingworth for South Africa’s March 1 clash with Zimbabwe.
Ranjan Madugalle of Sri Lanka, Zimbabwe’s Andrew Pycroft, West Indies’ Richie Richardson and India’s Javagal Srinath will share match referee duties during the Super Eights stage.
