ICC Women's World T20: India face NZ in opener on Nov 9 and Pak on Nov 11; DRS to debut

Bengaluru, June 25: India will begin their campaign in the ICC Women's World T20, to be held in the West Indies from November 9 to 24, against New Zealand.

India, who are yet to win the tournament in five attempts, face Pakistan in their second game on November 11. The tournament opener against New Zealand is scheduled for November 9.

India's remaining leagues games will be against a qualifier and Australia on November 15 and 17 respectively.

FULL SCHEDULE

India captain Harmanpreet Kaur said the countdown for the event has now begun and her team is looking to do well.

"The announcement of the schedule marks the countdown to this big event and we are all really looking forward to playing in the West Indies. The ICC Women's World Twenty20 will be a competitive tournament with some tough league matches early on and no team can take it easy at any stage. Naturally, expectations will be high from our team after our World Cup final appearance last year and we aim to be at our best during the tournament," Kaur said.

All matches of first stand-alone ICC Women’s World Twenty20 to be broadcast live from Guyana, St Lucia and Antigua and Barbuda. https://t.co/NlyJjuXaZz #cricket @icc #WT20

— ICC Media (@ICCMediaComms) June 25, 2018

The 10-team tournament, featuring three-time champions Australia and reigning winners England, will be played across three venues in the Caribbean.

The finalists of the World T20 Qualifier in the Netherlands from July 7 to 14 will add to the line-up of the November tournament, which is the first standalone ICC women's event in the shortest format.

The teams participating in the Qualifying event are Bangladesh, Ireland, the Netherlands, Papua New Guinea, Scotland, Thailand, Uganda and the United Arab Emirates.

All 23 matches of the World T20 will be broadcast live to maintain the momentum and focus on women's cricket, while the Decision Review System (DRS) will be used for the first time in any ICC World T20 event, ensuring consistency in the use of technology in top world-level events.

Defending champions West Indies are in Group A along with England, South Africa, Sri Lanka and Qualifier 1 from the Netherlands event, while Australia, India, New Zealand, Pakistan and Qualifier 2 will be in Group B.

The event kicks off at the Guyana National Stadium, starting with India and New Zealand.
In the second match, Australia will play Pakistan and the Windies round off the day playing Qualifier 1 under lights.

This venue will also host matches between arch-rivals India and Pakistan and trans-Tasman adversaries Australia and New Zealand.

The Darren Sammy Cricket Ground in St Lucia will be the other venue for the group stage with the first match there pitting England against Sri Lanka on November 10, while the Sir Vivian Richards Cricket Ground in Antigua will host both semifinals on November 22 and the final on November 24.

INDIA'S SCHEDULE (Group Stage)

November 9: India vs New Zealand

November 11: India vs Pakistan

November 15: India vs Qualifier

November 17: India vs Australia