On August 19, the International Cricket Council (ICC) announced that the ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup Qualifier 2021 will be held in Zimbabwe from 21 November to 5 December. The initial plan was to conduct the tournament in Sri Lanka, however, the fifth edition of this competition will see Zimbabwe as the hosts.
The 10 teams that will be locking horns against each other are Bangladesh, Ireland, the Netherlands, Pakistan, Papua New Guinea, Sri Lanka, Thailand, the United States, the West Indies, and Zimbabwe.
The top three teams will qualify for the ICC Women’s World Cup 2022 that will be played in New Zealand from March 4 to April 3. Along with the top three teams, the next two teams will automatically qualify for the ICC Women’s Championship, as the number of teams will be increased from 8 to 10 in the next cycle.
At present, the five teams that have already qualified for the coveted competition are Australia, England, India, New Zealand and South Africa.
ICC Head of Events Chris Tetley said: “The ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup Qualifier is an extremely important event in our calendar as it not only provides teams with a chance to qualify for the World Cup but will also determine the final two participants in the next edition of the ICC Women’s Championship. I’m sure Harare will witness some keenly contested matches. I thank Zimbabwe Cricket for agreeing to host the tournament and wish teams all the best in their preparations for this important event.”
Zimbabwe Cricket Chairman Tavengwa Mukuhlani said: “Firstly, I wish to express our heartfelt thanks to the ICC board for their magnanimous gesture in allowing us the privilege of hosting the ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup Qualifier 2021. On our part, we will leave no stone unturned to ensure this prestigious global event stands out as a unique event that celebrates Zimbabwe in all its magnificent splendour, richness, vibrancy, diversity and glory. I believe being granted the right to host this tournament is a vote of confidence in what we as ZC are doing and what we are hoping to do. You can rest assured we will not disappoint. We will not disappoint the nation of Zimbabwe and we will not disappoint the game of cricket.”
This article is the summary of the original article published on the ICC website
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