The International Cricket Council (ICC) on Thursday confirmed that the Women’s World Cup Qualifier 2021 will be held in Zimbabwe from 21st November to 5th December. Originally the tournament was slated to be played in the island nation Sri Lanka in July last year but had to be postponed indefinitely due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The ten-team tournament will feature five sides from the regional qualifiers namely Thailand, The Netherlands, Papua New Guinea, the United States of America and Zimbabwe who will be joined by Bangladesh, Ireland, West Indies, Pakistan and Sri Lanka. The full schedule of the tournament will be announced in due course.
The top three teams in the competition will feature in the 2022 Women’s World Cup which will be hosted by New Zealand in March-April 2022. Defending champions England along with Australia, India, New Zealand and South Africa have directly qualified for the main event. The top three qualifiers along with the next two teams will book their places in the next ICC Women’s Championship. The remaining five teams will be the top five sides from the last time around.
"The ICC Women's Cricket World Cup Qualifier is an extremely important event in our calendar as it not only provides teams with a chance to qualify for the World Cup but will also determine the final two participants in the next edition of the ICC Women's Championship. I'm sure Harare will be witness to some keenly contested matches. I thank Zimbabwe Cricket for agreeing to host the tournament and wish teams all the best in their preparations for this important event," ICC Head of Events Chris Tetley was quoted as saying by Cricbuzz.
"Firstly, I wish to express our heartfelt thanks to the ICC board for their magnanimous gesture in allowing us the privilege of hosting the ICC Women's Cricket World Cup Qualifier 2021. On our part, we will leave no stone unturned to ensure this prestigious global event stands out as a unique event that celebrates Zimbabwe in all its magnificent splendour, richness, vibrancy, diversity and glory." Tetley added.
"I believe being granted the right to host this tournament is a vote of confidence in what we as ZC are doing and what we are hoping to do. You can rest assured we will not disappoint. We will not disappoint the nation of Zimbabwe and we will not disappoint the game of cricket," Zimbabwe Cricket Chairman Tavengwa Mukuhlani quipped.