In ICC Women’s T20 World Cup 2024, scheduled to be held in October in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), 10 teams will compete for the trophy across 23 matches. In opening match of the tournament to be held on October 3, Bangladesh face Scotland at Sharjah Cricket Stadium and it will continue until the final at Dubai International Stadium on October 20, said a press release. “Here, we look at how each of them qualified for the tournament. Pakistan qualified through being the next highest ranked side in the ICC Women’s T20I Team Rankings at the end of February 2023. They have yet to reach the semi-finals,” it said. Bangladesh qualified as hosts before the competition was moved to the UAE, with this set to be the sixth time they have participated in the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup. They have yet to make it beyond the group stage. Six teams qualified courtesy of their performances in the 2023 ICC Women’s T20 World Cup in South Africa.

Australia lifted the trophy for the sixth time as they continued their dominance with a 19-run victory over the hosts at Newlands Cricket Ground. The Australians won all six of their matches in the tournament and have not lost a match in the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup since being beaten by India in their opening group match in 2020. For South Africa, it was their first ever final and they will be aiming to go one better when the competition comes to Sharjah and Dubai. Inaugural champions in 2009, England, qualified after reaching the semi-finals in South Africa where they were beaten by the host nation. Since lifting the trophy 15 years ago, the English have been beaten in the final on three occasions. India were the other beaten semi-finalists, edged out by just five runs in a thriller against Australia in Cape Town, only just missing out on a second consecutive final. West Indies, champions in 2016, were one of the teams to finish third in their group after they defeated Ireland and Pakistan in Group 2.

The third-placed team in Group 1 was New Zealand, finalists in 2009 and 2010, who qualified thanks to comprehensive victories over Bangladesh and Sri Lanka. Two teams booked their place through the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup Qualifier in May. That includes Sri Lanka, who claimed a stunning win over host South Africa in the opening game of the tournament in 2023 only to eventually finish fourth in Group 1 via net run-rate. Sri Lanka won all four of their Group A matches in the Qualifier before sealing their spot with a 15-run victory over hosts the UAE at the Sheikh Zayed Cricket Stadium in Abu Dhabi. Scotland was the only team making their debut in the competition and they had to coming through the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup Europe Qualifier in 2023, facing the Netherlands, Italy and France. They won five of their six matches to reach the global Qualifier, where they finished second, behind Sri Lanka, in Group A before making history by defeating Group B winners Ireland by 54 runs at the Sheikh Zayed Cricket Stadium.

Credit: Independent News Pakistan