The ICC Women’s T20 World Cup, was last played in 2020 and a record MCG crowd of 86,174 watched hosts Australia beat India by 85 runs in the final . For the first time at a global ICC event, an all-female panel of umpires and match referees will officiate.
The tournament will be played in South Africa, which has just hosted the inaugural Under-19 Women’s T20 World Cup, which was won by India. The majority of matches, including both semi-finals and the final, will be played at Newlands Stadium in Cape Town. Some of the games will be played at the Boland Park in Paarl, and five matches will be held in the space of seven days at St George’s Park in Gqeberha.
Groups and teams
There will be 10 teams taking part, split into two groups. Group A consists of Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh. Group B will feature England, India, Pakistan, West Indies and Ireland. Each team plays the other four in their group once. The top two teams from each group advance to the semi-finals on February 23 and 24. The final is scheduled for February 26, with a reserve day available on February 27.
South Africa directly qualified as hosts and were joined automatically by the top seven teams in the ICC’s world rankings as of November 30, 2021. That left 37 nations to battle for the remaining two places through a series of qualifiers from which Bangladesh and Ireland emerged victorious. Thailand, who featured in 2020, missed out.
Group 1: Australia, Bangladesh, New Zealand, South Africa, Sri Lanka
Group 2: England, India, Ireland, Pakistan, West Indies
The venues
Three venues across South Africa will be used for the T20 World Cup. The event kicks off on February 10 at Newlands, Cape Town, which will also host the semi-finals and the final. Boland Park in Paarl, and St George’s Park in Gqeberha, are the other venues for the event.
Schedule
10 February – South Africa vs Sri Lanka (Cape Town)
11 February – West Indies vs England (Paarl)
11 February – Australia vs New Zealand (Paarl)
12 February – India vs Pakistan (Cape Town)
12 February – Bangladesh vs Sri Lanka (Cape Town)
13 February – Ireland vs England (Paarl)
13 February – South Africa vs New Zealand (Paarl)
14 February – Australia vs Bangladesh (Gqeberha)
15 February – West Indies vs India (Cape Town)
15 February – Pakistan vs Ireland (Cape Town)
16 February – Sri Lanka vs Australia (Gqeberha)
17 February – New Zealand vs Bangladesh (Cape Town)
17 February – West Indies vs Ireland (Cape Town)
18 February – England vs India (Gqeberha)
18 February – South Africa vs Australia (Gqeberha)
19 February – Pakistan vs West Indies (Paarl)
19 February – New Zealand vs Sri Lanka (Paarl)
20 February – Ireland vs India (Gqeberha)
21 February – England vs Pakistan (Cape Town)
21 February – South Africa vs Bangladesh (Cape Town)
23 February – SEMI-FINAL 1 (Cape Town)
24 February – SEMI-FINAL 2 (Cape Town)
26 February – FINAL (Cape Town)