The next global event on the International Cricket Council (ICC) calendar is the Women’s T20 World Cup that’ll be played early next year in South Africa from the 9th to the 26th of February. The mega ICC event will see 10 nations involved of which direct qualifications are handed out to hosts South Africa and the top 7 teams on the ICC T20I rankings as of 30 November 2021 among the teams that took part in Australia held T20 World Cup in 2020.
The 2 finalists from the 8-team qualifier event that’ll be hosted by the Emirates Cricket Board (ECB) from the 18th to the 25th of September, 2022 at the Zayed International stadium and the Tolerance oval grounds in Abu Dhabi will be joining the 8 qualified nations at the ICC T20 World Cup in South Africa early next year.
The 8 nations taking part in the qualifier are divided into 2 groups for the league stage games, following which the knockout matches will be played. Group A consists of Bangladesh, the United States of America, Ireland and Scotland. Group B sees Thailand, the United Arab Emirates (hosts), Papua New Guinea and Zimbabwe in the mix.
Final 2 Teams that will play Women’s T20 World Cup 2023 next year in South Africa will be decided in Abu Dhabi #CricketTwitter pic.twitter.com/XBzdIQE7dz
— Female Cricket (@imfemalecricket) August 31, 2022
Bangladesh and Thailand were a part of the group stage of the 2020 edition of the women’s T20 World Cup that was played in Australia and after being the finalists in the previous edition of the global qualifier had already qualified for the upcoming 2023 qualifiers. Ireland qualified as the highest-ranked team among regional qualifiers and with the East Asia Pacific (EAP) qualifiers canceled due to Covid, the highest-ranked EAP team as of 30 November 2021 also went through which saw Papua New Guinea among the mix.
The remaining 4 regional qualifiers saw Scotland from the Europe qualifier come through, Zimbabwe from the Africa qualifier, the United States of America from the Americas qualifier and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) from the Asia qualifiers advance further making it a total of 8 nations.
Squads for ICC Women’s T20 World Cup Qualifier (so far) :
United Arab Emirates Women’s Cricket Team
Chaya Mughal (C), Natasha Cherriath, Samaira Dharnidharka, Kavisha Egodage, Mahika Gaur, Siya Gokhale, Priyanjali Jain (WK), Suraksha Kotte, Vaishnave Mahesh, Indhuja Nandakumar, Esha Oza, Rinitha Rajith, Rithika Rajith, Theertha Satish (WK), Khushi Sharma
United States of America Women’s Cricket Team
Sindhu Sriharsha (C), Geetika Kodali (VC), Anika Kolan, Bhumika Bhadriraju, Disha Dhingra, Gargi Bhogle, lsani Vaghela, Lisa Ramjit, Moksha Chaudhary, Preeti lyenger, Ritu Singh, Snigdha Paul, Suhani Thadani, Taranum Chopra, Yashaditi Teki
Zimbabwe Women’s Cricket Team
Mary-Anne Musonda (C), Modester Mupachikwa, Kelis Ndhlovu, Sharne Mayers, Josephine Nkomo, Precious Marange, Christabel Chatonzwa, Loreen Tshuma, Loryn Phiri, Nomvelo Sibanda, Esther Mbofana, Pellagia Mujaji, Audrey Mazvishaya, Chipo Mugeri-Tiripano, Francisca Chipare
The ICC now has officially released the tournament schedule which is attached below.
| DATE | MATCHES | VENUE | TIME (LOCAL) |
18-Sep-22 |
Thailand vs United Arab Emirates | Zayed Cricket Stadium | 10:00 AM |
| Bangladesh vs Ireland | Zayed Cricket Stadium | 2:00 PM | |
| Zimbabwe vs Papua New Guinea | Tolerance Oval | 10:00 AM | |
| Scotland vs United States of America | Tolerance Oval | 2:00 PM | |
19-Sep-22 |
Thailand vs Zimbabwe | Zayed Cricket Stadium | 10:00 AM |
| Bangladesh vs Scotland | Zayed Cricket Stadium | 2:00 PM | |
| Papua New Guinea vs United Arab Emirates | Tolerance Oval | 10:00 AM | |
| Ireland vs United States of America | Tolerance Oval | 2:00 PM | |
21-Sep-22 |
Bangladesh vs United States of America | Zayed Cricket Stadium | 10:00 AM |
| Thailand vs Papua New Guinea | Zayed Cricket Stadium | 2:00 PM | |
| Scotland vs Ireland | Tolerance Oval | 10:00 AM | |
| Zimbabwe vs United Arab Emirates | Tolerance Oval | 2:00 PM | |
23-Sep-22 |
B1 vs A2 | Zayed Cricket Stadium | 10:00 AM |
| A1 vs B2 | Zayed Cricket Stadium | 2:00 PM | |
| A3 vs B4 | Tolerance Oval | 10:00 AM | |
| B3 vs A4 | Tolerance Oval | 2:00 PM | |
25-Sep-22 |
3rd place playoff | Zayed Cricket Stadium | 10:00 AM |
| Final | Zayed Cricket Stadium | 2:00 PM | |
| 7th place playoff | Tolerance Oval | 10:00 AM | |
| 5th place playoff | Tolerance Oval | 2:00 PM |
| GROUP A | GROUP B |
| Bangladesh | Thailand |
| Ireland | Zimbabwe |
| Scotland | Papua New Guinea |
| United States of America | United Arab Emirates |
Chris Tetley, head of ICC events said: “This T20 World Cup Qualifier is going to be a fantastic event with eight closely matched teams competing for just two places at the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup in South Africa next year. The level of competitiveness in the women’s game has increased significantly over the last four years and with every ICC region represented in Abu Dhabi, it will be a tough-fought event.
“There is huge momentum around the women’s game at the moment following the great success of the ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup 2022 and the sport making its debut in the recent Commonwealth Games in Birmingham. The ICC Women’s T20 World Cup in South Africa will enable us to build on that and in line with our global growth strategy take women’s cricket to more fans than ever before. On behalf of the ICC, I wish all the teams competing here the very best in their efforts to book their spots to South Africa.”
Emirates Cricket Development Manager, Andrew Russell said, “Women’s cricket has never been in better shape both around the world and in the UAE, and it is essential to our Board that we carry forward this momentum. We aim to do just that by hosting this prestigious event, which we believe can be a vehicle that accelerates the sport’s growth in this country and across our region.