The Cricket World Cup is the pinnacle of women’s cricket and having been postponed by 13 months, this competition is one of the most anticipated events on the 2022 cricket calendar.
When and Where?
The 2022 Women’s Cricket World Cup will feature 31 matches in as many days. Beginning on March 4th, the tournament will get underway at Tauranga’s Bay Oval before concluding on the evening of April 3rd at Hagley Oval.
The games will be held across six host cities; Tuaranga, Auckland, Hamilton, Wellington, Dunedin and Christchurch.
How Does it Work?
The 2022 Women’s Cricket World Cup will be contested by eight teams. Five countries have already sealed their place at the tournament with hosts New Zealand, Australia, England, India and South Africa already ramping up preparations for this global event. These teams have established themselves as major forces in global cricket and will be amongst the favourites to lift the trophy at the beginning of April. Betting on the 2022 Women’s Cricket World Cup is likely to be very popular with prominent online bookmakers such as 22Bet offering punters the chance to wager on the outright market, as well as on a game-by-game basis.
A further nine nations will compete in a qualifier tournament in November/December in Harare with the top three nations joining the illustrious quintet.
The tournament will comprise of an eight team round-robin format with the best four sides progressing to the semi-final stage.
Who are the Strongest Contenders?
New Zealand
The ‘White Ferns’ will be roared on by a vociferous home crowd and if they can reach the latter stages, they will relish the chance to play under the lights in Christchurch. The 2000-winners would have been disappointed with their underwhelming fifth-place finish five years ago and having been chosen to host the tournament for the first time in over two decades, they will be looking to capitalize on the home advantage.
Amy Satterthwaite, who missed the T20 World Cup in March will be looking to make up for lost time whereas young all-rounder Amelia Kerr is a hugely exciting talent. They will be testing themselves ahead of the World Cup by facing India on home soil in a series of ODIs throughout February.
Australia
Six-time champions Australia are always a major force on the international scene and they will be aiming to chalk up an unprecedented seventh success in this event. They were only able to make the semi-finals of the tournament in 2017 and they will be looking to upset their near-neighbours in their own backyard.
They have broken a number of records in recent years and recently claimed their 22nd consecutive ODI victory when beating New Zealand in April 2021. The Australian Women’s Cricket team have a significant following and their fans are likely to travel in numbers once again.
England
It’s been over 30 years since any side has gone back-to-back in this tournament, however, England will be aiming to smash that record by claiming consecutive victories in this event. The 2017 hosts have a decent pedigree in this tournament and rarely fail to qualify for the final four.
Having won two of the last three stagings of this tournament, there will be a significant weight of expectation on England. Captain Heather Knight will be hoping that her side can build on their recent success.
India
India have finished runners-up in two of the last four World Cups and having only lost by nine runs in 2017, they will be determined to exact revenge five years later. They are undoubtedly on an upward trajectory and have been making notable progress at major ICC tournaments recently.
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