The International Cricket Council (ICC) on Tuesday announced the schedule for the 2022 Women’s World Cup in New Zealand with 31 matches to be played acoss 31 days from March 4 to April 3, 2022. Six cities in New Zealand will play host to the competition – Auckland, Tauranga, Hamilton, Wellington, Christchurch, and Dunedin. The opening game between New Zealand and a qualifier will be held at Tauranga on March 4 and the venue will also host a marquee clash between India and England, the finalists of the last edition in 2017, on March 16.

india start their campaign on March 6 with a clash against a qualifier followed by a high-octane face-off against the hosts on March 10 at Seddon Park, Hamilton.

The Indian women then face another qualifier at the same venue on March 12 before facing England in Tauranga.

The remainder of India’s league games, against Australia, a qualifier and South Africa are scheduled in Auckland, Hamilton and Christchurch on March 19, 22, and 27 respectively.

Wellington and Christchurch will host the semi-finals on March 30 and 31 respectively while Christchurch will also host the final on April 3.

The tournament was postponed from it’s original window of February to March 2021 due to the coronavirus pandemic.

The qualifiers will be decided later in a qualifying event.

“We have all been through a very difficult year and are happy to be getting back at playing the game we all love,” said Mithali Raj, India captain.

“India has been doing very well at ICC tournaments in the past three or four years, whether you talk about the (ODI) World Cup or the recently concluded T20 World Cup, and if we manage to win the tournament in 2022, it will be a massive inspiration for the next generation of girls, as the fifty-over format, is considered the pinnacle for any cricketer. I can assure you the team and I are looking forward to it.”

Full Schedule (* denotes a day-night fixture)

Bay Oval, Tauranga

Fri 04 Mar 2022    New Zealand v Qualifier*    
Sun 06 Mar 2022    Qualifier v India*    
Tue 08 Mar 2022    Australia v Qualifier *    
Fri 11 Mar 2022    Qualifier v South Africa*    
Mon 14 Mar 2022    South Africa v England*    
Wed 16 Mar 2022    England v India*    
Fri 18 Mar 2022    Qualifier v Qualifier

University Oval, Dunedin

Sat 05 Mar 2022    Qualifier v South Africa     
Mon 07 Mar 2022    New Zealand v Qualifier    
Wed 09 Mar 2022    Qualifier v England    

Seddon Park, Hamilton

Sat 05 Mar 2022    Australia v England*    
Thu 10 Mar 2022    New Zealand v India*    
Sat 12 Mar 2022    Qualifier v India*    
Mon 14 Mar 2022    Qualifier v Qualifier    
Thu 17 Mar 2022    New Zealand v South Africa*     
Mon 21 Mar 2022    Qualifier v Qualifier*    
Tue 22 Mar 2022    India v Qualifier*     

Basin Reserve, Wellington

Sun 13 Mar 2022    New Zealand v Australia     
Tue 15 Mar 2022    Australia v Qualifier     
Tue 22 Mar 2022    South Africa v Australia 
Thu 24 Mar 2022    South Africa v Qualifier    
Fri 25 Mar 2022    Qualifier v Australia 
Sun 27 Mar 2022    England v Qualifier     
Wed 30 Mar 2022    Semi-Final 1    

Eden Park, Auckland

Sat 19 Mar 2022    India v Australia*     
Sun 20 Mar 2022    New Zealand v England  

Hagley Oval, Christchurch

Thu 24 Mar 2022    England v Qualifier*    
Sat 26 Mar 2022    New Zealand v Qualifier    
Sun 27 Mar 2022     India v South Africa*     
Thu 31 Mar 2022    Semi-Final 2*
Sun 03 Apr 2022    FINAL*