Bangladesh women’s cricket team have been drawn alongside Australia, New Zealand, hosts South Africa and Sri Lanka in Group 1 of the Twenty20 World Cup 2023, International Cricket Council said in a press release.
Group 2 comprises England, India, the West Indies, Pakistan and Ireland.
The Tigresses will face the Lankans in their first game on February 12 in Cape Town, two days after the eighth edition of the tournament gets underway.
The women in red and green will then travel to Gqeberha where they will take on five-time champions Australia on February 14 before returning to Cape Town.
There the Tigresses would round off their group stage campaign by locking horns with New Zealand and South Africa on February 17 and 21 respectively.
Cape Town will also host the two semi-finals, which will be contested by the top two teams from each group, and the grand finale, scheduled for February 26.
The final match schedule was released Monday in a uniquely African event at Newlands Cricket Ground in Cape Town with ICC Ambassador Mithali Raj attending the launch.
She said, “The announcement of the schedule takes us one step closer to the Women’s T20 World Cup. This has been a fantastic period for the growth of the women’s game, and I am sure fans in South Africa will be out in huge numbers to support the players.
“I am fortunate to have had the opportunity to participate in ICC tournaments over the years and know what they mean to players globally. I can’t wait to watch some fast-paced, high-energy cricket and closely-fought, exciting matches.”
ICC Chief Executive, Geoff Allardice said: “We are thrilled to be announcing the match schedule for the next ICC Women’s T20 World Cup as we look to build on the success of Australia 2020 and host a uniquely African celebration of cricket.
“As a key strategic priority for the sport, women’s cricket continues to build momentum and engage more fans than ever before. With T20 as the growth vehicle for cricket we are confident that this event and the inaugural U-19 Women’s T20 World Cup preceding the senior event will leave a lasting legacy to grow girls and women’s cricket around the world.”
Bangladesh and Ireland qualified for the final round of the mega event after emerging as the finalists in the Qualifier of the T20 World Cup in the United Arab Emirates.
This will be Bangladesh’s fifth consecutive participation in the T20 World Cup where they have won only once, against Sri Lanka in 2014 when the former hosted the event.