A Guide to the Women's T20 World Cup 2024

The summer of cricket is well and truly upon us.

Whether it was the England Women’s dominant performance against Pakistan and New Zealand or the captivating Test series the England Men's team is currently playing, cricket fans across the country are getting treated to some great games and memorable moments.

But fortunately, this year's summer of cricket doesn’t have to finish at the end of September, thanks to the 2024 ICC Women’s T20 World Cup, scheduled to run from the 3-20 of October.

With such an important competition on the horizon, we decided to dive a little deeper into the competition and take a quick glance at teams and players to watch.

What are the T20 Women's World Cup 2024 Venues?

In July 2022, the Bangladesh Cricket Board named Dhaka and Sylhet as the two venues for the women's World Cup.

Each location will host several group and knockout games before the final, which will take place in Dhaka due to its larger capacity (25,416 compared to the 18,500 capacity of Sylhet).

Given the sub-continent conditions and just two locations for all the games, expect lots of used pitches, perfectly prepared for plenty of turn and bounce.

When are the T20 Women's World Cup Fixtures?

Before the World Cup officially kicks off, all the teams will take part in ten warm-up games, allowing them to prepare for the upcoming competition and become more familiar with the conditions.

These games won’t be classed as official matches, so expect teams to use more than 11 players to help them identify their best eleven players for the first official group stage match.
The competition is split into two groups, labelled Group A and Group B.

Group A consists of Australia, India, New Zealand, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka, and Group B has England, Bangladesh, Scotland, South Africa, and the West Indies.
England will officially start proceedings with their match against South Africa on 3 October at 3pm UK time, and will be hoping to get off to a winning start against one of their tougher group opponents.

The two top teams from each group, after each has played one another, then move into a semi-final bracket, where the winner of Group A plays the runner-up of Group B, and vice-versa. The winner of those semi-final matches will then play in the final, where the World Cup winner will be announced.

What are the T20 Women's World Cup Teams?

Qualification for the 2024 T20 Women’s World Cup actually started to take place back in 2023, after the top 6 teams from the 2023 T20 World Cup secured their ticket to Bangladesh (Australia, England, India, South Africa, New Zealand, West Indies).
With only 4 other places up for grabs, Bangladesh automatically qualified due to hosting the event, while Pakistan secured their place on 27 February 2023 due to being the next highest ranking team.
That left just two additional places, which were claimed by Scotland and Sri Lanka through qualifying matches.
Ones to watch

Harshitha Samarawickrama (Sri Lanka)
While Chamari Athapaththu is undeniably the most well-known name in the Sri Lankan lineup, it is Harshitha Samarawickrama, and we are most excited to see it play.
With a batting average of just over 40, the fifth-best in the world for anyone with 500 or more runs since the start of last year, Sri Lanka will be relying heavily on her runs to help put a score on the board for their wide array of spin options.

Muneeba Ali (Pakistan)
Speaking of runs, this list wouldn’t be complete without Muneeba Ali, the woman who has Pakistan’s one and only T20i century.
As such and given how close to home the competition will be, a lot will be riding on Ali’s form throughout the competition, where runs are likely to be hard to come by.

Richa Ghosh (India)
When trying to pick a standout player in the India Women's team, it’s just as tricky as doing so for the men’s team!
We’ve opted for Richa Ghosh, given her role as impact player that has the ability to turn a game on its head with her hard-hitting approach.
When she gets going, Ghosh has the ability to take down even the best bowlers, and teams will be extremely wary of keeping her quiet before the game gets away from them.

Nigar Sultana (Bangladesh)
Bangladesh probably doesn’t have one of the strongest squads on paper, but given it is their home World Cup, expect them to cause a few upsets along the way.
Nigar Sultana will be a huge part of that process, as she is the leading run-scorer since the start of last year, with four impressive half-centuries.

Sophie Ecclestone (England)
For several years now, Sophie Ecclestone has been England’s ace in the hole. Her pace variations, left-arm delivery, and sharp turn make her the perfect bowler for Bangladeshi conditions.
Expect her to play a significant role in England’s effort to win the competition, as it will be her wickets that stifle teams and prevent them from scoring big during the middle overs.