Pakistan vs Ireland and Scotland vs West Indies will kick off the qualifying competition in Lahore on April 9 ahead of the women’s ODI World Cup, which will be played in October this year in India. Bangladesh and Thailand, the other teams in the fray in the six-team event, will face off the following day.
Apart from India, Australia, England, New Zealand, South Africa and Sri Lanka have already qualified for the World Cup, and the final two spots will be filled by the top-two teams from the qualifying tournament. The games will be played at the new-look Gaddafi Stadium and the Lahore City Cricket Association grounds. The two venues, as well as the Aitchison College grounds, will host the warm-up fixtures on April 5 and April 7, after the visiting teams arrive in Lahore on April 3. The last set of games will be played on April 19.
The schedule has been officially released today, on March 14, just over three weeks from the start of the tournament, though three boards – West Indies, Ireland and Bangladesh – had put out the dates and venues in an unofficial capacity when announcing their season’s fixtures and in the case of Bangladesh, their squad for the event.
