ICC Women’s T20 World Cup 2023: All you need to know – Dates, Venues, and Format Explainer
The much-awaited eighth edition of the Women’s T20 World Cup is around the corner with all the teams set to fight for the iconic trophy.
Australia, being the defending champions, would like to retain their title this time whereas Team India would be high on confidence after their good show in the recent triangular series in South Africa. Though they lost the final against South Africa, Harmanpreet Kaur & Co. won the most matches in the series.
South Africa, being the host nation, automatically qualified for the tournament with the top seven ranked sides in the world. The other two teams, Bangladesh and Ireland qualified, after playing in the qualifying tournament earlier.
Recently, India won the maiden U19 Women’s T20 World Cup under the leadership of Shefali Verma. The victory will also help the senior team to perform better on the bigger stage. Let us take a look at the dates, venues and format of this year’s T20 World Cup:
Dates
The Women’s T20 World Cup is set to begin on February 10 with the first game set to be played between the hosts South Africa and Sri Lanka at Newlands, Capetown. The final of the big tournament will be played on February 26 at the same venue. The semi-finals will also take place in Cape Town on February 23 and 24.
Venues
In November 2020, the International Cricket Council announced that the tournament will not take place in its original slot due to the 2022 FIFA World Cup, hence it got shifted to 2023 February. There will be three venues that will host the whole tournament in the span of 17 days.
Newlands, Capetown is one of the most iconic cricket stadiums in the world
Newlands Cricket Ground, Capetown, St George’s Park Ground, Gqeberha, and Boland Park, Paarl will see 23 matches. Newlands will host the most number of matches with 12 followed by Boland Park which will host six matches. St George’s Park has got five matches to host in the upcoming tournament.
The recent tri-series between India, South Africa and West Indies took place in South Africa only but at a different venue. It took place in Buffalo Park, East London. Still, it’s a positive sign for India as they got good World Cup practice.
Format Explainer
The teams are divided into two groups – Group A and Group B. Each team from the group will play the other four teams once before moving to the knockout stage (semifinals) if they qualify. The top team from Group A will play the Runners up from Group B and vice versa. The winners of the semifinals will face off against each other in the finals.
| Group A | Group B |
| Australia | England |
| Bangladesh | India |
| New Zealand | Ireland |
| South Africa | Pakistan |
| Sri Lanka | West Indies |
The hosts South Africa is in Group A with the current champions Australia, Asian Sri Lanka, the White Ferns New Zealand, and Bangladesh, who made it to the top ten teams after being the finalists of the qualifying tournament.
Group B comprises England, Ireland, West Indies, India, and Pakistan. Fans will witness another Indo-Pak encounter in the World Cup which will take place in Newlands Cricket Ground, Cape Town.