The International Cricket Council (ICC) on Monday (June 25) released the complete itinerary of ICC Women's World T20 2018, slated to be held in West Indies. The showpiece event will commence on November 9 with a triple header while the final will be played on November 24. The matches will be played across three venues in the Caribbean.

The 10-team tournament will feature Australia, England, India, New Zealand, Pakistan, South Africa, Sri Lanka and West Indies in addition to the two qualifiers. The finalists of the ICC Women’s World T20 Qualifier in the Netherlands from 7 to 14 July will complete the line-up of the ICC Women’s World Twenty20 2018.

“All 23 matches of the ICC Women’s World Twenty20 2018 will be broadcast live to maintain the momentum and focus on women’s cricket, while the Decision Review System (DRS) will be used for the first time in any ICC World Twenty20 event, ensuring consistency in the use of technology in top world-level events,” ICC’s media release stated.

Defending champions and the hosts West Indies are in Group ‘A’ alongside England, South Africa, Sri Lanka and Qualifier 1 from the Netherlands event, while Australia, India, New Zealand, Pakistan and Qualifier 2 are slotted in Group ‘B’.

“The event kicks off at the Guyana National Stadium, starting with India and New Zealand. In the second match, Australia will play Pakistan and the Windies round off the day playing Qualifier 1 under lights. This venue will also host matches between arch-rivals India and Pakistan on 11 November and trans-Tasman adversaries Australia and New Zealand two days later,” the press release stated.

“The Darren Sammy Cricket Ground in St Lucia will be the other venue for the group stage with the first match there pitting England against Sri Lanka on 10 November, while the Sir Vivian Richards Cricket Ground in Antigua will host both semifinals on 22 November and the final on 24 November,” the release added.

Expressing her thoughts on the event, India’s T20I skipper Harmanpreet Kaur said: “The announcement of the schedule marks the countdown to this big event and we are all really looking forward to playing in the West Indies. The ICC Women’s World Twenty20 will be a competitive tournament with some tough league matches early on and no team can take it easy at any stage. Naturally, expectations will be high from our team after our World Cup final appearance last year and we aim to be at our best during the tournament.”

Welcoming all the other teams in the tournament, Windies captain Stafanie Taylor said: “It is great to host the cricket world here in the West Indies. This is a great place to play cricket and we know our fans will enjoy every moment of the tournament. It’s extra special as our families and friends will get to see us playing on home soil in a huge international tournament. It is also wonderful to have the cricket world see what the game is like in the region, how we celebrate and enjoy ourselves, and feel the vibes, the music and the culture.”

Australia captain Meg Lanning said that her troops are already looking forward to the tournament.

“It’s the next big tournament on the horizon and we have a good chance to nail down our T20 game-plan and focus. The group is always looking forward to World Cups and this time around is no different. The World Cup last year did not go as well as we would have liked to, so we are very hungry to become world champions again. We know it is a very open competition and you need to be consistent and be brave with how you play but we are in a very good space to go down that path and see that when the time comes we are playing really good cricket,” Lanning quoted as saying by ICC.