Lahore, 28 March 2022:

With the aim of reducing the national side’s gap with the leading international teams and creating more opportunities for players to grow and evolve according to the demands of the contemporary game, the Pakistan Cricket Board today unveiled a bumper season for the women cricketers.

Bismah Maroof’s side will compete in eight international series, including ICC Women’s Championship commitments, ICC Women’s T20 World Cup, Commonwealth Games, Asian Games and ACC Women’s T20 Asia Cup from May 2022 till February 2023.

In what will be the first instance of Pakistan staging the ICC Women’s Championship fixtures, Sri Lanka will tour the country for three ODIs in May-June. Their tour is beefed with three T20Is – to be played under floodlights – that will help the two sides in their preparations for the Commonwealth Games, Asian Games and the much-anticipated ICC Women’s T20 World Cup, which will be played in South Africa in February 2023.

Bismah Maroof’s side will host three more ICC Women’s Championship ODIs in October-November when Ireland will arrive in Pakistan for what will be their first tour of the country. Along with three ODIs, the two teams will also face-off in three T20Is.

The Ireland women side’s visit will follow the national side’s participation in a triangular T20I series in Bready that will involve the hosts and T20 World Cup champions Australia in July ahead of the eight-team Commonwealth Games in Birmingham.

Before the Ireland’s visit, Pakistan women will travel to Hangzhou, China, for the 19^th Asian Games in September. At the backend of 2022, the national side will participate in the ACC Women’s T20 Asia Cup, the details of which will be announced by the event organiser.

2023 will begin with a challenging tour of Australia in which they will play ICC Women’s Championship ODIs and three T20Is in January-February. The tour will further test the ability of the side and provide them with the crucial experience to continue to grow as a team.

More competition and opportunities for domestic cricketers

With the ambition of creating a strong talent pool at the domestic level and lay a proper pathway structure, the PCB, in a first, will organise an U19 T20 competition in Muridke in August with all six Cricket Associations fielding their teams.

This initiative will help the PCB to reach out to passionate girls in every nook and corner of the country and help them materialise their dreams of playing the game at the competitive level.

The players who standout in the U19 tournament will have a chance to feature in the senior women’s domestic season 2022-23, in which around 100 cricketers will feature.

The senior domestic season will begin with the T20 championship in September in which seven teams will participate. The event will be divided into two phases with four teams, comprising best players from the six Cricket Associations, featuring in the first phase.

The top performers from phase one will lock horns with the international cricketers in the second phase of the championship, in which three evenly balanced teams will contest.

The season will conclude with a 14-match One-Day tournament in April with Karachi hosting the four-team event, which will be played on double round-robin league basis to provide all the participating players a healthy mix of quality and quantity.

Head of Women’s Cricket Tania Mallick: “The past few weeks have brought to light the gulf between our side and the leading international teams. To develop and strengthen our national side, it is imperative to have a strong and competitive domestic structure and provide more opportunities to the national side to play in challenging conditions so we continue to gauge where we stand.

“We have put in a lot of thinking before penning down our upcoming season. I am grateful to all six Cricket Associations who have jumped on board and expressed their desire and willingness to develop women’s cricket at age group and senior rungs in their jurisdictions. Their help and support will unearth talent from all parts of the country and, with a strong system in place, I am sure we will be able to produce players who are capable of performing according to the contemporary demands and needs.”

Pakistan Women’s Head Coach David Hemp: “It is extremely important for our national side to continue to be challenged and play in tough conditions against tough oppositions to continue to grow and our commitments in the next season will help us on that front.

“Though, the recent results have not gone in our favour, but the individual performances underscore that these girls have the potential, and we need to provide them opportunities to upskill themselves. For the first time in the history of the World Cups, a Pakistan batter scored a century, our spinners have dominated the oppositions and a young all-rounder, just out of her teens, was recognised as the emerging cricketer of 2021 by the game’s global body.

“I am certain that the upcoming season will help our team develop and we will see consistent results.”

Pakistan Women’s captain Bismah Maroof: “Over the recent years, the women’s cricket has grown immensely and the level of competition has increased manifold. In such a backdrop, it is very important that we have proper international and domestic schedules.

“Playing more international games will aid the national side in better pressure handling and capturing the key moments, which we have not been able to do recently despite some outstanding chunks of play. We also need to have better bench strength and the introduction of an U19 event will go a long way in helping us with that.

“There is certainly plethora of talent in our country and the feedback that I have received from coaches about players from emerging camps have been great. We need to test that talent in match situations, and giving them matches under pressure environments will help in their growth.

“Taking a look at our calendar for the next 10 to 12 months make me excited and I am looking forward to it.”

Complete schedule May 2022-April 2023:

International events

18 May-7 June: Sri Lanka to Pakistan (3 ICC Women’s Championship ODIs, 3 T20Is), Rawalpindi

12-24 July: Pakistan to Ireland (4 tri-series T20Is also involving Australia), Dublin

25 July-8 August: Birmingham Commonwealth Games

30 Oct-20 Nov: Ireland to Pakistan (3 ICC Women’s Championship ODIs, 3 T20Is), Lahore/Karachi

December: ACC Women’s T20 Asia Cup

4 Jan-1 Feb: Pakistan to Australia (3 ICC Women’s Championship ODIs, 3 T20Is)

February: ICC Women’s T20 World Cup, South Africa

Domestic events

2-18 August: U19 Women’s T20 Tournament (14 T20s), Muridke

Sep/Oct: Triangular T20 Women’s Championship, Muridke/Lahore

5-25 April: Pakistan Women’s One-Day Tournament (14 50-over matches), Karachi

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India were knocked out of the ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup 2022 with the final ball of the league stage as South Africa won by three wickets.

Smriti Mandhana and Mithali Raj led the scoring for India with 71 and 68 as the Women in Blue set South Africa 275 to win and the Proteas emerged victorious in dramatic style thanks to 80 from Laura Wolvaardt and Mignon du Preez’s brave knock of 52 not out.

England had earlier defeated Bangladesh by 100 runs and will play South Africa in the semi-final on Thursday in Christchurch, while India’s loss confirms Australia will take on the West Indies in Wellington on Wednesday.

Australia topped the table with 14 points after going unbeaten during the round robin stage, while South Africa’s place in second was confirmed prior to the start of the match, but the win moved them to 11 points.

England end the league stage on eight points having mounted a remarkable comeback to win their final four matches after losing their first three, while the West Indies faced an agonising 72-hour wait to confirm their place in the semi-finals after their final game against South Africa was washed out and they finished on seven points.

India and New Zealand missed out on qualification for the knockout stages by just one point as they both finished on six, India ahead of the hosts on net run rate.

Bangladesh and Pakistan take up the last two spots in the table having won a game each, the Tigresses finishing in seventh thanks to a superior net run rate as every team recorded at least one victory in New Zealand.

India made a blistering start after choosing to bat, putting on 68 for no loss in the powerplay before Shafali Verma was needlessly run out on 53 after a breakdown in communication with opening partner Mandhana.

Mandhana top-scored with 71 and added 80 for the third wicket with Raj before she was excellently caught by a diving Chloe Tryon.

Raj also brought up a half-century before departing for 68 from 84 balls and Harmanpreet Kaur fell two runs short of a fifty of her own as South Africa’s bowlers hit back, Shabnim Ismail recovering from conceding 31 in her first three overs to produce figures of two for 11 in her final seven overs.

South Africa reeled India in to 274 for seven, meaning the Women in Blue would have to bowl their opponents out for under 174 to finish in third and avoid Australia.

They had a sniff when Lizelle Lee was run out by Kaur for six before Wolvaardt combined with Lara Goodall for a 125-run partnership.

Goodall was stumped one run shy of what would have been a maiden World Cup fifty before Wolvaardt was dismissed by a turning delivery from Kaur, missing another chance to make a World Cup hundred after registering her fifth half-century of the tournament.

However, she did become the tournament’s leading run scorer with 433 before leaving the field with a bowed head as Kaur wheeled away in an emotional celebration.

Kaur had another when skipper Sune Luus was given out LBW on review for 22 as South Africa slipped to 182 for four, and the all-rounder was involved again when she ran out Marizanne Kapp to leave South Africa needing 46 from 31 balls with five wickets in hand.

Tryon departed for 17 before Du Preez and Trisha Chetty took the chase to the final over, only for the wicketkeeper-batter to be run out.

Du Preez then appeared to hole out for 51 but was rescued by a Deepti Sharma no ball leaving South Africa with a free hit needing two to win from two balls.

Ismail and Du Preez took two singles to finish the job and the latter swung her arms in celebration after guiding her side to a record chase for South Africa in ODIs.

Earlier in the day, England defeated Bangladesh by 100 runs as Sophia Dunkley performed with the bat and Sophie Ecclestone delivered with the ball to ensure Heather Knight’s side made the last four.

The defending champions had slipped to 96 for four before Dunkley combined with Amy Jones to put on 72 for the fifth wicket.

Dunkley was eventually dismissed for 67 from 72 as she scored her maiden World Cup fifty before late striking from Katherine Brunt and Ecclestone hauled England up to 234 for six.

Bangladesh were wary of going for big shots, making just 23 in the powerplay before Ecclestone broke the deadlock to dismiss Sharmin Akhter for 23 and the spinner then got the other opener Shamima Sultana in her next over.

Wickets began to fall regularly as England extinguished any hopes of a Bangladesh win, Charlie Dean claiming three for 30 in tandem with spin twin Ecclestone who claimed three for 15 as the Tigresses were bowled out for 134.

Scores in brief

South Africa beat India at Hagley Oval, Christchurch by three wickets
India 274/7 in 50 overs (Smriti Mandhana 71, Mithali Raj 68; Shafali Verma 53, Harmanpreet Kaur 48; Masabata Klaas 2/38, Shabnim Ismail 2/42)
South Africa 275/7 in 50 overs (Laura Wolvaardt 80, Mignon du Preez 52 not out, Lara Goodall 49; Harmanpreet Kaur 2/42, Rajeshwari Gayakwad 2/61)
Player of the Match: Mignon du Preez (South Africa)

England beat Bangladesh at Basin Reserve, Wellington by 100 runs
England 234/6 in 50 overs (Sophia Dunkley 67, Nat Sciver 40; Salma Khatun 2/46)
Bangladesh 134 all out in 48 overs (Lata Mondol 30; Sophie Ecclestone 3/15, Charlie Dean 3/31)
Player of the Match: Sophia Dunkley (England)

SEMIFINAL LINEUP:

Semi-final 1, Basin Reserve, Wellington

Wednesday 30 March
Match Start: 11h00 local time
Australia (1) v West Indies (4)

Semi-final 2, Hagley Oval, Christchurch

Thursday 31 March
Match Start: 14h00 local time
South Africa (2) v England (3)

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