Schedule confirmed for Women's World Cup in India
The schedule has been confirmed for the ICC Women's World Cup which is being hosted by India this autumn, with England starting their campaign against South Africa in Bengaluru on 3 October.England, then led by Heather Knight, reached the final of the last 50-over tournament in 2022 but were beaten by world-dominating Australia. They will meet in the group stages of the tournament on 22 October.The tournament will also be opened in Bengaluru on 30 September with the hosts facing Sri Lanka, while Australia's first game is against T20 world champions New Zealand in Indore on 1 October.Earlier this month it was confirmed that Sri Lanka will also host matches as part of ongoing arrangements surrounding fixtures involving India and Pakistan.Colombo will host Pakistan's seven group games, including against India and England. It will also host a semi-final and the final if Pakistan make it that far.The other host cities in India are Guwahati and Visakhapatnam. The eight-team tournament sees all teams play each other once before the first semi-final takes place on 29 October in either Colombo or Guwahati and the second will be the following day in Bengaluru. Either Bengaluru or Colombo will host the final on 2 November.India previously hosted the Women's World Cup in 2013 and in their own conditions, they are strong contenders to challenge Australia for the title.
The World Cup will be a defining occasion for England under their new coach Charlotte Edwards and captain Nat Sciver-Brunt.England's memorable World Cup win at Lord's in 2017 was their last triumph at an ICC tournament. Alongside losing the 2022 final, in the T20 World Cups since they have been runners-up to Australia in 2018, exited at the semi-final stage in 2020 and 2023 and suffered a disastrous group-stage exit to West Indies last year. The West Indies defeat led to questions surrounding England's fitness, their fearless approach under coach Jon Lewis and their ability to handle pressure situations.Those criticisms were amplified by the Women's Ashes clean sweep at the beginning of this year which led to Lewis and Knight being removed from their positions. But England have started the summer positively with an unbeaten run against West Indies, though a much bigger test will come when India arrive for a white-ball series which starts on 28 June.
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