ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) on Sunday announced its women’s national and ‘A’ teams will tour the West Indies for a series of white-ball matches. The touring party will depart for Antigua from Lahore on June 23. The national side will play the West Indies in three T20Is and five one-day internationals, while the two countries’ ‘A’ sides will compete in three T20s and as many one-day matches. This is the national women’s team third international tour in the last four months after they played three ODIs and as many T20Is against South Africa in Durban before traveling north to Harare to play Zimbabwe, a tour that was cut short due to flights restrictions. Despite travel-related limitations around the world due of the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic, the PCB has continued to arrange the tours to provide its national women’s team competitive cricket to prepare for this year’s ICC Women’s World Cup Qualifier, followed by next year’s ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup and the Birmingham Commonwealth Games.
Pakistan and West Indies are ranked seventh and sixth in the ICC Women’s Team Rankings for ODI and T20I, respectively. Prior to this tour, the national women’s team has played three ODI series, two T20I series and featured in two ICC Women’s T20 World Cups in 2010 and 2018 in the Caribbean. The last time these two sides faced off in bilateral series was in early 2019. Pakistan came back from behind in the United Arab Emirates to win the three ODIs 2-1 and the T20I series, played in Karachi, was won by West Indies 2-1, with the second match of the series going down the wire and the touring party winning it in the Super Over. The two teams last met in the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup 2020 and the group-stage match was won by Pakistan as they comfortably chased down 125 with eight wickets and 10 balls spare.
Tour itinerary:
June 23 – Departure for Antigua
June 24-27 – Room Quarantine
June 28-29 – Practice
June 30 – 1st T20I between national sides and 1st T20 between ‘A’ teams at Sir Vivian Richards Stadium
July 2 – 2nd T20I between national sides and 2nd T20 between ‘A’ teams at Coolidge Cricket Ground
July 4 – 3rd T20I between national sides and 3rd T20 between ‘A’ teams at Sir Vivian Richards Stadium
July 7 – 1st ODI between national sides at Coolidge Cricket Ground
July 9 – 2nd ODI between national sides at Coolidge Cricket Ground
July 10 – 1st one-day between ‘A’ sides at Sir Vivian Richards Stadium
July 12 – 3rd ODI between national sides at Sir Vivian Richards Stadium
July 13 – 2nd one-day between ‘A’ sides at Coolidge Cricket Ground
July 15 – 4th ODI between national sides at Sir Vivian Richards Stadium
July 16 – 3rd one-day between ‘A’ sides at Coolidge Cricket Ground
July 18 – 5th ODI between national sides at Coolidge Cricket Ground
July 19 – Departure for Pakistan.