THE Zimbabwe national women’s cricket team has learnt of their qualification pathway for the 2023 Women’s T20 World Cup in South Africa following confirmation of the qualifying criteria by the International Cricket Council (ICC) yesterday.
BY SPORTS REPORTER
The 10-team tournament, which takes place from February 9-23, 2023, will see hosts South Africa plus the seven top teams in the 2020 rankings as of November 30, 2021 — from those that competed in the 2020 event in Australia – will automatically qualify.
The two remaining spots will be filled by two qualifying nations. Regional qualifiers will begin in August 2021 with 37 teams taking part – an increase of 10 from the 2020 qualifiers.
Zimbabwe, who won the previous regional qualifier held in the country last year, will be hoping to defend their title when they battle against hosts Botswana, Cameroon, Namibia, Nigeria, Malawi, Mozambique, Rwanda, Sierra Leone, Tanzania and Uganda in October last year.
The winners of the five regional events will be joined by the bottom two in the ICC rankings in November 2021 from the nations that competed in Australia in 2020. The highest-ranked qualifier who didn’t top their regional group will also feature in the 2022 global qualifier.
The Zimbabwe women’s side, which is affectionately known as the Lady Chevrons, will be hoping for a better year in 2021 after a series of disappointments this year despite their success on the field.
The Adam Chifo-coached side missed out on the qualifiers for the 2021 ICC Women’s World Cup, in New Zealand, which were set for Sri Lanka in June after they were postponed as a precautionary measure against the spread of the novel coronavirus.
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The postponement came after the team missed out on the chance to play in the Twenty20 Women’s World Global qualifiers in Scotland following Zimbabwe’s suspension by the ICC due to alleged government interference in the sport.
However, the Lady Chevrons are set to return to the international stage on a high after Zimbabwe Cricket (ZC) launched two new domestic competitions in October.
The Zimbabwe Cricket provincial women Fifty50 Challenge was won by Mountaineers last Sunday after they defeated Rhinos by 62 runs on the Duckworth–Lewis–Stern method in a rain-affected final played at Takashinga Cricket Club in Harare.
A day earlier Eagles had been crowned the winners of the provincial Twenty20 tournament after they thumped Tuskers by eight wickets.
