The ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup 2021 will be hosted by New Zealand and it will comprise a total of 31 matches, including the semi-finals and the finals.
It will be the 4th World Cup to be hosted in New Zealand after two men’s World Cup in 1992 and 2015 and a women’s event in 2000. The 50-over tournament will run from January 30 to February 20, New Zealand Cricket (NZC) said in a statement on Tuesday.
The hosts New Zealand and four other top teams based on the ICC Women’s Championship rankings will gain direct qualification for the 2021 tournament. Currently, the top four teams in the point table are – Australia (22), defending champions England (22), India (16) and South Africa (16).
While the remaining three teams will get a second chance through the ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup Qualifier event in which the teams will be joined by Bangladesh and Ireland, and the winner of each regional qualifier in 2019 – Africa, Americas, Asia, East Asia Pacific and Europe.
The 2017 Women’s Cricket World Cup was the first in which all participating players were fully professional. Eight teams qualified to participate in the tournament. Host England won the final against India at Lord’s on 23rd July by 9 runs.
