The International Cricket Council (ICC) on March 11 (Wednesday) has announced the schedule for the 2021 ICC Women’s World Cup in New Zealand. The tournament will kick off with the Black Caps taking on a qualifier on February 6, 2021, at the Eden Park, Auckland. with the final taking place on March 7 at the Hagley Oval in Christchurch.
Meanwhile, 31 matches will be played over one month across six different venues – Auckland, Hamilton, Tauranga, Wellington, Christchurch and Dunedin. The ICC has also made sure that all three knockout games have reserve days which wasn’t the case in Australia last week during the T20 World Cup that saw India progress to the final directly following the abandonment of their semifinal clash against England.
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The international body received a fair share of criticism from all quarters for not having a reserve day in place. But it looks like they have learnt from the mistakes. Only four teams have been confirmed for the World Cup so far. Australia, defending champions England, South Africa and hosts New Zealand have already qualified with four more spots are up for grabs. The remaining teams will be confirmed following the conclusion of the Women’s Championship and the qualifying event in Sri Lanka in July.
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Meanwhile, speaking about the format of the competition, all the eight teams will face each other once in the league stage. The top four teams at the conclusion of the group stage will then progress to the semifinals.
The launch party was attended by Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern, Governor-General Dame Patsy Reddy, Minister for Sports Grant Robertson, Minister of Economic Development Phil Twyford, Australian High Commissioner Her Excellency Patricia Forsythe and ICC CEO Manu Sawhney along with New Zealand legend Sophie Devine. India’s legendary cricketer Mithali Raj was also present during the event.
Here is the full schedule for ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup 2021
