Summary The tournament is all set to commence from June 24.
LAHORE (Raacikh Asghar) - The euphoria of the ICC Champions Trophy has not been over yet and the Cricket fans are in for a treat already as the Women’s World Cup is all set to commence from the June 24. Unlike the men’s game, the women’s cricket matches have a much lesser audience and are not covered as widely and as broadly as the men’s. To put that to bed, we try to bring to you each and everything you need to know about the upcoming championship starting this Saturday.
The tournament will take place between June 24 and July 23 and will include top ranked eight teams. The first four ranked teams got the automatic qualification while the other four earned their place in the tournament after playing the 2017 World Cup Qualifier that was held in Sri Lanka in February 2017.
Format
The tournament will follow a Round-Robin format where all the sides will face each other once. Hence each team will get to play a total of seven matches before the start of the knockout stages. The top four teams will qualify for the semi-finals with the winners getting a chance to battle out for the coveted trophy in the final on July 23.
Venues
The latest edition of the World Cup will be held in the United Kingdom. The venues of the tournament include Lord’s (London), County Ground (Derby), Bristol County Ground (Bristol), Grace Road (Leicester), County Ground (Taunton).
Important Statistics
1) Defending Champions: Australia
2) Most number of titles: Australia. They have been crowned champions 6 times out of 10
3) Highest run-getter: Debbie Hockley (New Zealand). She scored 1501 runs in total between 1982 and 2000
4) Highest Wicket-taker: Lynette Ann Fullston (Australia). She bagged a total of 39 wickets between 1982 and 1988
5) Highest score: Belinda Clark. The Australian scored a whopping 229* in 1997 against Denmark
6) Most runs in a tournament: Debbie Hockley scored 456 runs in 1997
7) Most wickets in a tournament: Lyn Fullston picked 23 wickets in 1982 edition
8) Highest team Score: 412/3 by Australia vs Denmark in 1997
9) Lowest Team Score: 27 by Pakistan vs Australia in 1997
Matches to look forward to:
Australia-New Zealand (2nd July), India-Pakistan (2nd July), South Africa-India (8th July), England-Australia (9th July), South Africa-Australia (15th July).
Fun Fact
The women’s World Cup began two years prior to men’s in the year 1973 and it was hosted by England that lifted the inaugural trophy after beating rivals Australia.
