 "Indian women's cricket team will start World Cup campaign on 30 September. Image: BCCI")
Two-time runners-up India will be playing warm-up matches against former champions England and New Zealand in Bengaluru ahead of the ICC Women’s World Cup, which they will be co-hosting with Sri Lanka in the months of September and October this year.
Pakistan, meanwhile, will be playing their warm-up games in Sri Lanka, where they will be playing all of their games once the tournament gets underway, thanks to the ‘Hybrid Model’ that has been in place since the Men’s Champions Trophy earlier this year.
India to play both warm-up games in Bengaluru
India will take on England in the first warm-up game on September 25 at BCCI’s Centre of Excellence ground and play New Zealand at the Chinnaswamy Stadium on September 27, three days before the start of the tournament at the same venue on September 30.
Pakistan will play their warmup games in Colombo on September 25 and 28 at the Colombo Cricket Club against Sri Lanka and Sri Lanka ‘A’ teams respectively.
“In all, nine day-night matches will be played from 25-28 September at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium, the BCCI Centre of Excellence 1 ground (both Bengaluru), R Premadasa Stadium and Colombo Cricket Club (both Colombo),” ICC said in a release on Tuesday.
Eight teams are competing in the round-robin warmups with matches across four venues in Bengaluru and Colombo.
Defending champions Australia, the only team not playing on the opening day of the warmups, start with a match against arch-foes England at the BCCI Centre of Excellence 1 ground on September 27.
Impact Shorts
More ShortsThe 50-over World Cup, which is returning to the sub-continent after 12 years, will be played from September 30 to November 2 at five venues – M Chinnaswamy Stadium (Bengaluru), ACA Stadium (Guwahati), Holkar Stadium (Indore), ACA-VDCA Stadium (Visakhapatnam) and R Premdasa Stadium (Colombo).
Warmup match schedule:
September 25: Bengaluru - India vs England at BCCI Centre of Excellence 1 ground; South Africa vs New Zealand at M Chinnaswamy Stadium. Colombo - Sri Lanka vs Pakistan at Colombo Cricket Club; Bangladesh vs Sri Lanka ‘A’ at R Premadasa Stadium.
September 27: Bengaluru - Australia vs England at BCCI Centre of Excellence 1 ground; India vs New Zealand at M Chinnaswamy Stadium. Colombo - Sri Lanka versus Bangladesh at Colombo Cricket Club.
Sept 28: Bengaluru - South Africa vs India ‘A’ at BCCI Centre of Excellence 1 ground. Colombo - Pakistan vs Sri Lanka ‘A’ at Colombo Cricket Club.
With PTI inputs