The International Cricket Council (ICC) has confirmed that the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup 2024 will be moved from Bangladesh to the United Arab Emirates. The event, scheduled to take place from 3-20 October, will now be staged in Dubai and Sharjah.
Geoff Allardice, ICC chief executive, said: “It is a shame not to be hosting the Women’s T20 World Cup in Bangladesh as we know the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) would have staged a memorable event. I would like to thank the team at the BCB for exploring all avenues to try and enable the event to be hosted in Bangladesh, but travel advisories from the governments of a number of the participating teams meant that wasn’t feasible. However, they will retain hosting rights.
“We look forward to taking an ICC global event to Bangladesh in the near future. I’d also like to thank the Emirates Cricket Board for stepping in to host on behalf of the BCB and Sri Lanka and Zimbabwe for their generous offers of support, and we look forward to seeing ICC global events in both of those countries in 2026.”
Revised schedule
A revised schedule has been announced for the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup, which will be held in Dubai and Sharjah from 3-20 October. Ten teams will play 23 matches, over 18 action-packed days, at two venues in the UAE, the Dubai International Cricket Stadium and the Sharjah Cricket Stadium, as the world’s best women’s teams battle it out for the ultimate prize in T20 cricket.
Group A includes six-time champions Australia, along with India, New Zealand, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka, while Group B comprises Bangladesh, England, South Africa, West Indies, and Scotland. Each team will compete in four group matches, scheduled across the two venues. Both venues will have the added excitement of hosting three double-header matchdays each.
On 3 October, Bangladesh will take on Scotland in the opening game of the event in Sharjah with that game followed by Pakistan taking on Asia Cup winners Sri Lanka. The 2023 runners up, South Africa, will play West Indies in their opening match of the T20 World Cup on 4 October in Dubai.
Defending champions and the most successful team in T20 World Cup history, Australia, will start their campaign on 5 October in Sharjah against Sri Lanka, while the highly anticipated fixture between India and Pakistan will take place in Dubai on 6 October.
The top two teams from each group will play the second placed team from the opposite Group. Semi-final 1 will be held in Dubai on 17 October and semi-final 2 in Sharjah on 18 October. If India advances to the semi-finals, they will play in semi-final 1. The ICC Women’s T20 World Cup champions will be crowned at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium on Sunday 20 October.
Scotland and Sri Lanka qualified for the event via the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup Qualifier that was staged in Abu Dhabi earlier this year. Kicking off the excitement will be 10 warm-up matches from 28 September to 1 October, all taking place at The Sevens Stadium and the ICC Academy grounds in Dubai.
The Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) will maintain its hosting rights while partnering with the Emirates Cricket Board (ECB) to ensure the successful delivery of the event.
For more information see t20worldcup.com
Images: International Cricket Council (ICC)