2018 Women’s World T20: India open vs New Zealand, face Pakistan on Nov 11
India will get a fresh opportunity to win their maiden World T20 title in the 10-team tournament, to be played in the West Indies from Nov 9 to 24.
The Indian women’s cricket team will open its World T20 campaign against New Zealand on November 9, according to the schedule released by the International Cricket Council (ICC) on Monday. The 10-team tournament will be played across three venues in the West Indies from November 9-24.
India are in Group B with three-time champions Australia, Pakistan, New Zealand and Qualifier 2. Group A has hosts and defending champions West Indies, England, South Africa, Sri Lanka and Qualifier 1.
The finalists of the ICC Women’s World T20 Qualifier in the Netherlands, to be played from July 7 to 14 July, will join the top eight sides. The teams participating in the qualifying event are Bangladesh, Ireland, Netherlands, Papua New Guinea, Scotland, Thailand, Uganda and United Arab Emirates.
ICC Women’s World T20 Tournament Director, Jennifer Nero stated, “The West Indies is one of the great places in the world for sports, entertainment and culture. Cricket is the heartbeat of the West Indies and we want to show case all these offerings during the tournament. It will be fast-paced, exciting and action-packed with lots of enjoyable moments. This is the Year of the Woman, and the world’s top teams will be coming.”
India will face Pakistan on November 11 at the Guyana National Stadium, Qualifier 2 on November 15 and Australia on November 17.
The Sir Vivian Richards Cricket Ground in Antigua will host both semifinals on November 22 and the final on November 24. St Lucia is the other venue.
“The announcement of the schedule marks the countdown to this big event and we are all really looking forward to playing in the West Indies. The ICC Women’s World T20 will be a competitive tournament with some tough league matches early on and no team can take it easy at any stage. Naturally, expectations will be high from our team after our (50-over) World Cup final appearance last year and we aim to be at our best during the tournament,” India skipper Harmanpreet Kaur said.
Defending champions Windies captain Stafanie Taylor was exited about being the host of such tournament, she said,” “We won the last edition in India and that was an amazing feeling. We are now playing at home and it would be even better to win again, this time in front of our supporters at home. We know the grounds, the pitches and most importantly, we know what is required. We’re playing for the people of the West Indies and we want to win again for them.”
While three times champions Australia’s captain Meg Lanning told the media that her team is hungry to become the world champions again. Their last tournament wasn’t good enough but this time they want to nail down it.
All 23 matches of the ICC Women’s World T20 2018 will be broadcast live. The Decision Review System (DRS) will be used for the first time in an ICC World T20 event.
Stay Tuned.
“Ankit Vaishnav”
