The wait is almost over for the eighth edition of the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup, set to be held in South Africa. The tournament will get underway on February 10th, with the final slated to be held on February 26th.
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Defending champions Australia, looking to complete another hattrick of titles, will face New Zealand at Boland Park in Paarl on the second day of the competition. Hosts South Africa will open the proceedings of the marquee event, when they take on Sri Lanka at the Newlands Cricket Ground in Cape Town on Feb 10th.
Australia, having won the title thrice on the trot previously, will look for a repeat show. With five titles from the seven editions so far, the Australian women’s team will once again enter the tournament as overwhelming favourites.
India, placed in Group 2, will open their campaign with a Sunday blockbuster when they take on arch-rivals Pakistan on Feb 12th at the Newlands Cricket Ground in Cape Town. The Harmanpreet Kaur-led Indian women’s team will look to go to whole distance in this upcoming edition, after losing to reigning champions Australia in the finals of the previous edition. India will be looking to win their maiden T20 World Cup title.
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While South Africa earned direct qualification as the hosts of the tournament, the seven highest ranked teams, who were in action in the previous edition in Australia, were the other teams to automatically qualify. The two teams to come through the qualification rounds are Ireland and Bangladesh.
Groups:
While Australia, the No. 1 ranked team on the ICC rankings will once again enter the tournament as favourites, they will face strong opposition from New Zealand and hosts South Africa in the group stages.
Meanwhile, in the second group, England and India are favourites to enter the last-four stage, though they will face a tough outing against West Indies.
Group 1: Australia, Bangladesh, New Zealand, South Africa, Sri Lanka.
Group 2: England, India, Ireland, Pakistan, West Indies.
Format:
The ten qualifying teams have been divided into two groups. Following the group stages, the top two teams from each group will head into the knockout stages. The semifinals will be held on Feb 23 and 24. The winners of the semifinal will face off at the Newlands Cricket Ground in Cape Town for the final of the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup 2023.
ICC Women’s T20 World Cup Venues:
The tournament will held across three venues, namely – Newlands Cricket Ground in Cape Town, St George’s Park Cricket Ground in Gqeberha and Boland Park in Paarl. The opening match, semifinals and final will be held at the Newlands Cricket Ground in Cape Town.
Women’s T20 World Cup Past Winners:
- 2009: England (beat New Zealand in the final)
- 2010: Australia (beat New Zealand in the final)
- 2012: Australia (beat England in the final)
- 2014: Australia (beat England in the final)
- 2016: West Indies (beat Australia in the final)
- 2018: Australia (beat England in the final)
- 2020: Australia (beat India in the final)
ICC Women’s World Cup 2023: All Team Squads
Australia:
Meg Lanning (c), Alyssa Healy (vc), Darcie Brown, Ashleigh Gardner, Kim Garth, Heather Graham, Grace Harris, Jess Jonassen, Alana King, Tahlia McGrath, Beth Mooney, Ellyse Perry, Megan Schutt, Annabel Sutherland, Georgia Wareham.
India:
Harmanpreet Kaur (c), Smriti Mandhana, Shafali Verma, Yastika Bhatia, Richa Ghosh, Jemimah Rodrigues, Harleen Deol, Deepti Sharma, Devika Vaidya, Radha Yadav, Renuka Thakur, Anjali Sarvani, Pooja Vastrakar, Rajeshwari Gayakwad, Shikha Pandey.
Reserves: Sabbhineni Meghana, Sneh Rana, Meghna Singh.
Pakistan:
Bismah Maroof (c), Aimen Anwar, Aliya Riaz, Ayesha Naseem, Diana Baig, Fatima Sana, Javeria Khan, Muneeba Ali (wk), Nashra Sandhu, Nida Dar, Omaima Sohail, Sadia Iqbal, Sidra Amin, Sidra Nawaz (wk) and Tuba Hassan.
Travelling Reserves: Ghulam Fatima, Kainat Imtiaz and Sadaf Shamas.
England:
Heather Knight (c), Lauren Bell, Maia Bouchier, Katherine Brunt, Alice Capsey, Kate Cross, Freya Davies, Charlie Dean, Sophia Dunkley, Sophie Ecclestone, Sarah Glenn, Amy Jones, Nat Sciver, Lauren Winfield-Hill, Danni Wyatt.
Travelling Reserves: Issy Wong, Dani Gibson.
Ireland:
Laura Delany (c), Georgina Dempsey, Amy Hunter, Shauna Kavanagh, Arlene Kelly, Gaby Lewis, Louise Little, Sophie MacMahon, Jane Maguire, Cara Murray, Leah Paul, Orla Prendergast, Eimear Richardson, Rebecca Stokell, Mary Waldron.
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