DUBAI, United Arab Emirates - The South African women's team will face Sri Lanka in their opening match of the Women’s World Twenty20 to be held in the West Indies from November 9 to 24.
The 10-team tournament, featuring three-time champions Australia, reigning Women’s World Cup winners England, India, New Zealand, Pakistan, South Africa, Sri Lanka and defending champions the Windies, plus two qualifiers, will be played across three venues in the Caribbean. South Africa’s match against Sri Lanka is on November 12, while on November 14 they play the Windies with England next up on November 16.
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Their last group match will be a qualifier, which will come from one of these countries: Bangladesh, Ireland, the Netherlands, Papua New Guinea, Scotland, Thailand, Uganda and the United Arab Emirates.
South Africa captain Dane van Niekerk said: “We love playing in the West Indies. It’s quite special, you don’t see places like that. I’m really excited because we enjoy playing Twenty20 cricket. I think we have a very dynamic side. We have hitters, we have runners, we have variation in the bowling attack as well. We are a free-spirited team and we enjoy it because we can express ourselves.”
All 23 matches of the ICC Women’s World Twenty20 2018 will be broadcast live to maintain the momentum and focus on women’s cricket. Group B consists of Australia, India, New Zealand, Pakistan and a qualifier.
Howzit @OfficialCSA? Come join us in the Caribbean for the Women's World T20! Here's @mraguilleira with your schedule for this November 👍🏝️ #WT20 pic.twitter.com/yb6VpRt5vh
— ICC (@ICC) June 25, 2018
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 on November 11 and trans-Tasman adversaries Australia and New Zealand two days later.
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. The Sir Vivian Richards Cricket Ground in Antigua will host both semifinals on November 22 and the final on November 24.