The Cricketer breaks down the nuts and bolts of the competition: format, history, squads, odds, TV and streaming information and much, much more...
The eighth edition of the ICC Women's T20 World Cup will be held in South Africa. The tournament was started in England in 2009 and is usually a biennial event. However, the last T20 World Cup was in 2020.
The first group stage game is all set to begin on Friday, February 10. The 10 teams are split into groups of two seeking qualification for the semi-finals, which will be held on Thursday, February 23 and Friday, February 24, while the final is scheduled for Sunday, February 26.
The upcoming Women's T20 World Cup will be played in South Africa, which also hosted the inaugural Under-19 Women's T20 World Cup. The majority of the games, including semi-finals and finals, will be played at Newlands in Cape Town, which has a capacity of around 25,000. Along with Newlands, Boland Park in Paarl and St George's Park of Gqeberha (formerly Port Elizabeth) will host a few games.
There will be 10 teams in the upcoming ICC Women's T20 World Cup this year. The qualification for eight teams is determined by the top seven teams of the ICC women's T20I ranking, with one spot reserved for the host nation.
The next two teams are determined through qualification as the finalists of that event become the ninth and 10th teams respectively. The 10 teams participating in the upcoming tournament are South Africa, England, India, Australia, New Zealand, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Ireland, Pakistan, and West Indies.
South Africa made it as a host nation, while other teams qualified through automatic qualification, with Bangladesh and Ireland making it via a qualifying tournament.
Australia are the current world champions [Getty Images]
The tournament structure is the same as the previous edition. The 10 teams will be split into two groups and will play against their group members once. Teams will receive two points for winning. And the top 2 teams from both groups will then proceed to compete in the semi-finals and then the finals.
The groups are as follows:
Group A: Australia, Bangladesh, New Zealand, South Africa, Sri Lanka.
Group B: England, India, Ireland, Pakistan, West Indies.
The Australians are the most successful side in this tournament. In the seven editions played, the Australian women have won this competition five times, while England and West Indies won it once in 2009 and 2016, respectively.
The highest run-scorer of the ICC Women's T20 World Cup is New Zealand's Suzie Bates, who has scored 929 runs, while England's Anya Shurbsole is the highest wicket-taker with 41 scalps.
The defending champions and five-times winners, Australia are favourites to retain their trophy this year.
They have a formidable fast bowling attack with Megan Schutt, Annabel Sutherland, Ellyse Perry, and others who can be lethal on the South African pitches. Their batting line-up also has depth and quality, with Meg Lanning, Ashleigh Gardner, Alyssa Healy, Beth Mooney, and Ellyse Perry, to name a few.
However, England aren't far behind and can challenge Australians. Even though they haven't won this tournament since its inaugural edition, Heather Knight's team will be eager to change things this year.
India challenged Australia for a gold medal at the Commonwealth Games, but Australia managed to prevail by just nine runs. India also won a game in a super over against the Aussies in the recent home series.
And the triumph by the Under-19s will boost their morale, as Shefali Verma and Richa Ghosh will be joining the senior team for the World Cup.
India were runners-up in 2020 [Getty Images]
Australia: Meg Lanning (c), Alyssa Healy, Darcie Brown, Ashleigh Gardner, Kim Garth, Heather Graham, Grace Harris, Jess Jonassen, Alana King, Tahlia McGrath, Beth Mooney, Ellyse Perry, Megan Schutt, Annabel Sutherland, Georgia Wareham
Bangladesh: Nigar Sultana Joty (c) Marufa Akter, Fargana Hoque Pinky, Fahima Khatun, Shorna Akter, Salma Khatun, Jahanara Alam, Shamima Sultana, Murshida Khatun, Nahida Akter, Rumana Ahmed, Lata Mondol, Ritu Moni, Disha Biswas, Sobhana Mostary
England: Heather Knight (c), Lauren Bell, Maia Bouchier, Alice Capsey, Kate Cross, Freya Davies, Charlie Dean, Sophia Dunkley, Sophie Ecclestone, Sarah Glenn, Amy Jones, Katherine Sciver-Brunt, Nat Sciver-Brunt, Lauren Winfield-Hill, Danni Wyatt
India: Harmanpreet Kaur (Captain), Smriti Mandhana, Shafali Verma, Yastika Bhatia, Richa Ghosh, Jemimah Rodrigues, Harleen Deol, Deepti Sharma, Devika Vaidya, Radha Yadav, Renuka Thakur, Anjali Sarvani, Pooja Vastrakar, Rajeshwari Gayakwad, Shikha Pandey.
Ireland: Laura Delany (captain), Georgina Dempsey, Amy Hunter, Shauna Kavanagh, Arlene Kelly, Gaby Lewis, Louise Little, Sophie MacMahon, Jane Maguire, Cara Murray, Leah Paul, Orla Prendergast, Eimear Richardson, Rebecca Stokell, Mary Waldron.
New Zealand: Sophie Devine (c), Suzie Bates, Bernadine Bezuidenhout, Eden Carson, Lauren Down, Maddy Green, Brooke Halliday, Hayley Jensen, Fran Jonas, Amelia Kerr, Jess Kerr, Molly Penfold, Georgia Plimmer, Hannah Rowe, Lea Tahuhu
Pakistan: Bismah Maroof (c), Aimen Anwar, Aliya Riaz, Ayesha Naseem, Sadaf Shamas, Fatima Sana, Javeria Khan, Muneeba Ali, Nashra Sandhu, Nida Dar, Omaima Sohail, Sadia Iqbal, Sidra Amin, Sidra Nawaz, Tuba Hassan
South Africa: Annerie Dercksen, Marizanne Kapp, Lara Goodall, Ayabonga Khaka, Chloe Tryon, Nadine de Klerk, Shabnim Ismail, Tazmin Brits, Masabata Klaas, Laura Wolvaardt, Sinalo Jafta, Nonkululeko Mlaba, Sune Luus (c), Anneke Bosch, Delmi Tucker.
Sri Lanka: Chamari Athapaththu (c), Oshadi Ranasinghe, Harshitha Samarawickrama, Nilakshi de Silva, Kavisha Dilhari, Anushka Sanjeewani, Kaushini Nuthyangana, Malsha Shehani, Inoka Ranaweera, Sugandika Kumari, Achini Kulasuriya, Vishmi Gunaratne, Tharika Sewwandi, Ama Kanchana, Sathya Sandeepan
West Indies: Hayley Matthews (c), Shemaine Campbelle, Aaliyah Alleyne, Shamilia Connell, Afy Fletcher, Shabika Gajnabi, Chinelle Henry, Trishan Holder, Zaida James, Djenaba Joseph, Chedean Nation, Karishma Ramharack, Shakera Selman, Stafanie Taylor, Rashada Williams.
Yes. Plenty of tickets are available, through Ticketpros and the official World Cup website. Prices start as low as 30 rand (£1.50)
Best odds available at time of publication:
Australia 8/15
England 4/1
India 9/2
New Zealand 9/1
South Africa 20/1
West Indies 50/1
Pakistan 100/1
Sri Lanka 100/1
Bangladesh 200/1
Ireland 500/1
It's very, very hard to see past Australia.
In the UK, Sky Sports holds the rights for all ICC tournament matches. The games will be split between Sky Sports Main Event, Sky Sports Cricket and Sky Sports Mix.
A NOW TV pass can be bought to access Sky Sports content on a monthly basis.
In India, you can watch the tournament on Star Sports and Hotstar. Yupp is the streaming platform for viewers in Sri Lanka, Bhutan, Nepal and the Maldives.
In Australia, it's Fox Sports for TV coverage, and a combination of Foxtel and Kayo for streaming.
In New Zealand, Sky Sport hold the rights to the tournament across all platforms.
ESPN+ and Willow both hold American broadcast rights, with ESPN Caribbean showing the games in the Caribbean (where they'll also be available on the ESPN app)
In sub-Saharan Africa, catch up with the action via Supersport, and through the broadcaster's website and app.
MENA viewers should go to Etisalat for TV coverage, and via SwitchTV and Starzplay for streaming.
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