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India women, England women face off in World Cup qualifiers

Additionally, Australia women will face Pakistan women in a three match One-Day series in Brisbane.

Mithali Raj is the captain of the Indian cricket team © Getty Images
Mithali Raj expressed excitement over participating in inaugural ICC Championships © Getty Images

London: Aug 20, 2014

The Indian women’s cricket team will take on England here in the opening round of the inaugural ICC Championship, a top-four finish in which will give the side a place in the 2017 World Cup.

The Championship will also see Australia host Pakistan in a multi-year, bilateral qualifying competition to the pinnacle event in women’s cricket, the ICC Women’s World Cup England 2017.

Reigning world champion Australia will face Pakistan in a three match One-Day series in Brisbane, while three-time winners England will play India for at Scarborough and Lord’s.

The concept, proposed by the ICC Women’s Committee and approved by the ICC Board in its January meeting, is aimed at creating more extensive and meaningful bilateral playing programme for women’s cricket.

Other competing countries include New Zealand, South Africa, Sri Lanka and West Indies. The tournament structure will see teams play each other in one home or away series that will include three One-Day Internationals (ODIs) over a two and a half year period.

As such, each side is guaranteed at least 21 ODIs over the tournament period. “Two points will be awarded for a win, while points will be shared in case of a tie or a no-result. At the conclusion of the seven rounds, the top four sides will gain automatic qualification to the ICC Women’s World Cup England 2017, while the bottom four sides will get a final chance of qualification through the ICC Women’s World Cup Qualifier in 2017,” the ICC said in a statement.

England and India will meet in Scarborough in the first ODI on Thursday. They will then play in Scarborough on August 23 before facing each other in the third ODI at Lord’s on August 26.

England captain Charlotte Edwards is excited to be leading her team in one of the first fixtures of the new tournament. “As players, the new ICC Women’s Championship is a fantastic concept,” she said, adding, “It gives us real structure leading into the ICC Women’s World Cup in England in 2017, and makes every ODI series that we play between now and then significant. Whenever I step out to play for England I want to win, but now more than ever before, every result really does matter. I cannot wait to lead the England women’s team against India in our first round of matches in the ICC Women’s Championship this summer.”

Looking forward to the ICC Women’s Championship, India captain Mithali Raj, who leads the women’s ODI batting rankings, said, “The India team and management is really excited to be playing in this inaugural competition and we are extremely focused and determined to kick off the series well in Scarborough. It is a new and exciting development for women’s cricket and it is great that the ICC is supporting a stronger structure for the game leading into the ICC Women’s World Cup England 2017.”

For India, Harmanpreet Kaur in sixth position is the other batter inside the top 10, while Jhulan Goswami (third) is the highest-ranked bowler. In September, West Indies will host New Zealand for their three-ODI series, while Sri Lanka will host South Africa in October.

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