ICC Women's T20 World Cup 2024: All You Need To Know
We are officially four months away from the ninth edition of the ICC Women's T20 World Cup. If you're an avid fan or follower of women's cricket, you likely followed the recently concluded ICC Women's T20 World Cup Qualifier, which set the stage for the upcoming tournament.
Besides Ireland, which will be replaced by first-time participants, Scotland, all the teams that competed in the previous edition will once again battle it out for this year’s title. The tournament is again packed with the biggest names in women's cricket, promising a display of top-tier cricketing skills and excitement.
This article comprehensively previews the I.C.C. Women's T20 World Cup. We will cover essential details such as the tournament schedule, venues, host nation, format, groups, and participating teams.
About ICC Women's T20 World Cup 2024
Before going into the upcoming tournament details, let's first review some essential information about the I.C.C. Women's T20 World Cup and its history.
The I.C.C. Women's T20 World Cup is a biennial international cricket championship organized by the International Cricket Council for women's Twenty20 International cricket. England hosted its first edition in 2009 and won the tournament as the host that year. At that time, it was known as the I.C.C. Women's World Twenty20 and remained so until 2019.
The first three editions of the tournament included only eight teams. However, this number has increased to ten since the 2014 edition. In fact, the ICC stated that it is looking to further increase the number of participants to twelve by 2026 when England will host the tournament again.
As of the most recent edition in February 2023, 11 teams had competed in the tournament. Of the 11, only three teams, Australia, England, and West Indies, had won the tournament. The defending champions, Australia, have alone won the tournament a record six times, with West Indies and England winning one time each.
The I.C.C. Women's T20 World Cup is arguably the biggest and most popular cricket tournament in women's cricket globally. The 2023 edition saw the tournament hit its peak viewership, with over 192 million global viewing hours. That equated to 1.39 billion total video views, a 26% increase from the previous record-breaking edition, which saw 1.1 billion views. Beyond viewership, the tournament also garments impressive betting action among cricket enthusiasts and bettors. You can click here to wager on the 2024 Women's T20 World Cup or any favorite other sports event.
Participating Teams and Qualifications
The 2024 I.C.C. Women's T20 World Cup is expected to kick off on the 3rd of October and end on the 20th of October. Group stage matches will run from 4th to 14th, starting with the opener between Australia and Sri Lanka. The tournament's knockout phase, that is, the semi-finals, will then take place on the 17th and 18th, while the grand finale takes place two days later, on the 20th.
As mentioned, the tournament will be contested by ten participating teams, including:
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Bangladesh (Host)
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Australia (Defending champions)
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England
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India
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South Africa
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New Zealand
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West Indies
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Pakistan
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Scotland
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Sri Lanka
The top six teams from the 2023 tournament, the host team, and the best-ranked team in the I.C.C. Women's T20I Team Rankings secured eight automatic qualification spots. The remaining two spots were contested in regional qualification tournaments with 46 countries.
Pre-Tournament Warm-up Matches
Before the tournament officially kicks off, participants will compete in a series of Pre-tournament warm-up matches that will run from September 27th to October 1st. These are just friendly matches with no silverware at stake. Their purpose is to create a more organized preparation match for each of the competing teams participating in the tournament.
The warm-up matches will proceed as follows:
27th of September
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England vs. Pakistan
28th of September
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Australia vs. Scotland
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Bangladesh vs New Zealand
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India vs. West Indies
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South Africa vs. Sri Lanka
30th of September
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Australia vs. England
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Bangladesh vs. India
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Scotland vs. Sri Lanka
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New Zealand vs. South Africa
1st of October
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Pakistan vs. West Indies
Tournament Format and Schedule
The ten participating teams will compete in 23 matches that will kick off with the group-stage games. The teams will be split into two groups of five, competing in a single round-robin format.
Below is an outline of each group:
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Group A: Australia, India, New Zealand, Pakistan, Sri Lanka.
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Group B: Bangladesh, England, Scotland, South Africa, West Indies.
The top two teams from each group move on to the knockout semi-final round. Specifically, the first-placed teams from Group A will play against the second-placed team from Group B, and vice versa. The winners from both matches will then move on to the finals to determine the champion.
2024 I.C.C. Women's T20 World Cup: Match Venues
The host country, Bangladesh, has provided two major stadiums where the entire tournament will be played. The two stadiums include:
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Sylhet International Cricket Stadium (18,000 capacity).
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Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium (25,000 capacity)
A total of 11 matches will be played at Sylhet International Cricket Stadium. This will include one of the two semi-final matches. The remaining 12 matches will be played in the Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium, including the second semi-final and final.
As the countdown to the 2024 ICC Women's T20 World Cup continues, excitement is building among fans and players alike. Like previous editions, the tournament promises to showcase the very best in women's cricket, with top teams and players from around the globe competing for the prestigious title.