The first-ever International Cricket Council (ICC) Under-19 Women’s T20 World Cup is scheduled to take place early next year in South Africa. Now that the regional qualifiers are done, the final set of 16 nations for the tournament are known of which 12 nations gained direct qualifications and the other 4 have come through a qualification process.
The 12 nations who’ve gained direct qualification are Australia, Bangladesh, England, India, Ireland, New Zealand, Pakistan, South Africa (hosts), Sri Lanka, West Indies, Zimbabwe, and the United States. The 4 nations who’ve joined the 12 are United Arab Emirates (UAE) from the 6-team Asia qualifier, Indonesia from the 2-team East Asia Pacific (EAP) qualifier, Scotland from the 2-team Europe qualifier and Rwanda from the Africa qualifier.
Asia Qualifier Winner – United Arab Emirates
The ASIA QUALIFIER had Bhutan finish at the bottom of the table with 0 points, Qatar with 2 points coming off a win finished 5th, Malaysia with 4 points having won a couple of games finished 4th and Nepal finishing 3rd with 3 wins and 6 points. The tournament had hosts, United Arab Emirates (UAE) remain unbeaten throughout the league stage across 5 games and topped the table with 10 points for a spot in the final and were joined by Thailand who got there with 4 wins and 8 points. The low-scoring final saw UAE chase down Thailand’s total of 84 runs in 17.1 overs for the loss of 4 wickets to claim the ticket to South Africa.
East Asia Pacific Winner – Indonesia
The EAST ASIA PACIFIC (EAP) QUALIFIER leg had hosts Indonesia hand Papua New Guinea (PNG) a 2-1 defeat in the 3-match T20I series. The opening T20I had Indonesia post 105/9 in 20 overs that they then defended dismissing PNG for 68 runs. The 2nd T20I had PNG restrict Indonesia to 69/9 in 20 overs and then chased down the required in 18.5 overs for the loss of 6 wickets to stay alive in the tournament. A thrilling decider saw Indonesia post 89/8 in 20 overs that they then defended bowling PNG out for 87 runs with 4 balls to spare and Indonesia got both hands on the ticket to the inaugural edition of the U-19 World Cup.
Europe Qualifier – Scotland
The EUROPE QUALIFIER between Scotland and Netherland (hosts) across a 3-match T20I series saw the latter lose the series 0-3. The opening T20I had Scotland post 135/6 in 20 overs that they then defended comfortably handing Netherland a 78 all-out in 19.2 overs. The 2nd T20I had Netherland post 94/7 in 20 overs that Scotland with ease in 8.1 over chased down for the loss of a wicket. The 3rd and final T20I had the Scottish opening pair of Alisa Lister and Darcey Carter both get to individual centuries and finished on scores of 111(58) and 103*(55) respectively and got their team to post a massive total of 223/2 on board that Netherland fell way short of finishing their 20 overs on 100/7. The thumping 3-0 series win got Scotland among the 16 others who’ll be flying to South Africa to be a part of history.
Africa Qualifier – Rwanda
The AFRICA QUALIFIER saw 9 teams contest in a 16-game league stage tournament which saw Rwanda in 4 games; win 3 and lose 1, Nigeria win and lose a couple each off their 4, Tanzania win all 4 of their games, Malawi win 1 and lose 3 of their 4 games and Mozambique lose all of their 4 games. A bunch of nations played 3 games which saw Uganda register wins in all 3, Namibia win a couple and lose 1 of their 3, Botswana win one and lose a couple of their 3 and Sierra Leone lost all of their 3.
The semi-final played between Tanzania and Namibia saw the former chase down the required total of 107 in 18.5 overs of play. The other, semi-final played between Rwanda and Uganda saw the former post 97 runs but defended emphatically by bowling Uganda out for 41 runs. Having lost their respective semi-finals, Namibia and Uganda contested in the 3rd place playoff which saw Namibia get past the required in registering a 4-wicket win. The final show between Tanzania and Rwanda had the latter with a total of 84 runs to chase down that they did so comfortably to win by 6 wickets and bag the ticket to South Africa.
That’s the 16 who’ll be contesting at the inaugural edition of the historic U19 Women’s T20 World Cup that’ll take place in Benoni and Potchefstroom in South Africa early next year.
16 Teams are now confirmed for the 2023 ICC Under-19 Women’s T20 World Cup
🇿🇦South Africa (hosts)
🇦🇺Australia
🇧🇩Bangladesh
🏴England
🇮🇳India
☘️Ireland
🇳🇿New Zealand
🇵🇰Pakistan
🇱🇰Sri Lanka
🇺🇸USA
🏝️West Indies
🇿🇼Zimbabwe
🇮🇩Indonesia
🏴Scotland
🇦🇪UAE
🇷🇼Rwanda#CricketTwitter— Female Cricket (@imfemalecricket) September 12, 2022
