The ICC Women's Cricket World Cup Qualifier 2021 will begin on Sunday, 21 November, in Zimbabwe with three places up for grabs for the 2022 World Cup.Subcontinental rivals Pakistan and Bangladesh, and European competitors Ireland and Netherlands face off in the opening day's action. Hosts Zimbabwe play Thailand, while West Indies take on PNG in the other two matches of the day. Sri Lanka play their first fixture against the Netherlands, while USA feature against Bangladesh among the matches on day two.
In all, four venues will be used for the group stage, with four matches held every day. These are: Old Hararians, Harare Sports Club, Sunrise Cricket Club and Takashinga Cricket Club. The Country Club will host a warm-up, along with the other grounds on 19 November. The Super 6 stage begins on 1 December. There will not be a knockout stage for the Qualifier which includes 29 matches. The 10 teams are divided into two groups, with the top three teams from each group progressing to the Super Six stage. The first three teams in the Super Six will qualify for the World Cup which will be played in March-April. Apart from the hosts, Australia, England, South Africa and India are the other teams who have qualified directly for the World Cup. The top five teams in the Super Six will also qualify for the next edition of the ICC Women's Championship, which has been expanded from eight teams to 10.
