Harare , NOV 02 : The ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup Qualifier 2021 will begin on Sunday, November 21, in Zimbabwe, with three places up for grabs for the 2022 World Cup, the International Cricket Council (ICC) has announced.

A statement issued by the ICC on Tuesday said that subcontinental rivals Pakistan and Bangladesh, and European competitors Ireland and Netherlands face off in the opening day’s action.

Hosts Zimbabwe will play Thailand, while West Indies take on Papua New Guinea in the other two matches of the day.

Sri Lanka will play their first fixture against the Netherlands, while USA feature against Bangladesh among the matches on day two.

The ICC statement further stated that four venues will be used for the group stage, with four matches held every day.

The venues are Old Hararians, Harare Sports Club, Sunrise Cricket Club, and Takashinga Cricket Club. The Country Club will host a warm-up, along with the other grounds on November 19.

According to ICC, the 10 teams participating in the event will play the group stages in two groups.

The division of the teams on a group basis is as follows:

Group A: West Indies, Sri Lanka, Ireland, Papua New Guinea, Netherlands.

Group B: Pakistan, Bangladesh, Thailand, Zimbabwe, USA.

The top three of the teams from each group will go to the Super 6 stage, with group stage points carrying over to the next phase. From there, the top three after the Super 6 six stages will qualify for the Women’s Cricket World Cup 2022 being held in New Zealand next year, along with the hosts, Australia, England, South Africa, and India, who have directly qualified for the event.

The Super 6 stage will begin on December 1, 2021.

The top five will also qualify for the next edition of the ICC Women’s Championship, which is expanding from eight teams to 10.

According to the schedule of fixtures issued by the ICC, the opening match between Pakistan and Bangladesh will be played at Old Hararians on November 21, while the other three matches of the day, Thailand vs Zimbabwe, West Indies vs PNG, and Ireland vs Netherlands will be played at Harare Sports Club, Sunrise Cricket Club, and Takashinga Cricket Club, respectively.

Here is the rest of the schedule:

November 23

Old Hararians: West Indies vs Ireland

Harare Sports Club: Netherlands vs Sri Lanka

Sunrise Cricket Club: Pakistan vs Thailand

Takashinga Cricket Club: Bangladesh vs USA

November 25

Old Hararians: Ireland vs Sri Lanka

Harare Sports Club: Bangladesh vs Thailand

Sunrise Cricket Club: PNG vs Netherlands

Takashinga Cricket Club: Zimbabwe vs USA

November 27

Old Hararians: Sri Lanka vs West Indies

Harare Sports Club: Ireland vs PNG

Sunrise Cricket Club: Pakistan vs Zimbabwe

Takashinga Cricket Club: USA vs Thailand

November 29

Old Hararians: Bangladesh vs Zimbabwe

Harare Sports Club: Pakistan vs USA

Sunrise Cricket Club: West Indies vs Netherlands

Takashinga Cricket Club: Sri Lanka vs PNG

December 1

Old Hararians: Super 6 Match 21

Harare Sports Club: Super 6 Match 22

Sunrise Cricket Club: Super 6 Match 23

December 3

Old Hararians: Super 6 Match 24

Harare Sports Club: Super 6 Match 25

Sunrise Cricket Club: Super 6 Match 26

December 5

Old Hararians: Super 6 Match 27

Harare Sports Club: Super 6 Match 28

Sunrise Cricket Club: Super 6 Match 29

All matches will start at 9.30am local time.