The second edition of the ICC Women’s World Twenty20 Qualifier is being held in Bangkok, capital of Thailand, from 28th November to 5th December with highly prized places at the T20 World Cup in India next year available to the leading two teams.
Eight teams are taking part in the Bangkok Qualifier with Bangladesh and Ireland who took part in the 2013 World Twenty20 in Bangladesh joined by Netherlands and Scotland from ICC Europe, hosts Thailand and China from Asia, Papua New Guinea from ICC East Asia Pacific and Zimbabwe from ICC Africa as these second tier nations attempt to join the leading eight women’s nations in India in March next year.
The teams are divided into two groups: Group A consists of Bangladesh (1), Thailand (4), Scotland (5) and Papua New Guinea (8); Group B consists of Ireland (2), Netherlands (3), China (6), Zimbabwe (7). Matches will be played at two venues in Bangkok: Thailand Cricket Ground and Asian Institute of Technology.
The first stage of the competition will see the four teams in each group play each other in a round-robin league with the top two teams going through to the Trophy semi-finals with the bottom two teams moving into the Shield semi-finals.
The winners of the two Trophy semi-finals will win places at the ICC Women’s World Twenty20 in India and also contest the competition’s final on the last day of the tournament. The remaining play-off matches will be held to determine the final rankings in the tournament.
This is a highly important competition for these eight countries, as they combine to show the world that women’s cricket is truly a worldwide game and not confined to eight countries who take part in the ICC Women’s Championship or in the ICC Women’s World Cup.
Every two years the second-tier countries have a chance to shine on the world stage and to qualify for places in a prestigious World Cup and this time individual players will also be showing off their qualities in order to be selected for the 2015/16 Women’s Big Bash in Australia.