Dubai: The International Cricket Council (ICC) on Saturday unveiled the schedule for the inaugural ICC Women’s Emerging Nations Trophy T20I, to be staged in Bangkok, Thailand, from November 20 to 30, marking another significant stride in the ICC’s global strategy to promote women’s cricket and expand worldwide participation in the sport.
The T20I tournament will be played by the top eight Associate Members, of which five hold ODI status, and the remaining three are the highest-ranked teams in the ICC Women’s T20I Team Rankings as of May 1, 2025, the cut-off date.
Eight teams – Thailand, the Netherlands, Papua New Guinea, the United Arab Emirates, Scotland, Namibia, Tanzania, and Uganda – will compete across two venues, the Terdthai Cricket Ground and the Asian Institute of Technology in Bangkok.
The eight teams will play each other once in a single round-robin structure, with the trophy to be lifted on November 30. The hosts come into the tournament as the highest-ranked (11th), and do enjoy a nine-match winning streak in completed matches, though they will be tested with the bat against a strong field.
ICC CEO Sanjog Gupta said, “It is the ICC and the Chair’s vision to sustainably expand Cricket’s footprint across the world and grow the women’s game. Providing elite athletes from emerging nations more opportunities to play at the highest level is aimed at fast-tracking their development and improving the competitiveness of their teams. It also drives the visibility of the sport in participant nations, serving as a driver of girls’ involvement in the sport and inspires women from other nations to stay committed to the development pathways.”
Schedule:
November 20
Thailand v Netherlands
Papua New Guinea v United Arab Emirates
Scotland v Uganda
Namibia v Tanzania
November 21
Thailand v Papua New Guinea
Netherlands v United Arab Emirates
Uganda v Namibia
Scotland v Tanzania
November 23
Uganda v Papua New Guinea
Tanzania v Netherlands
United Arab Emirates v Scotland
Thailand v Namibia
November 25
Thailand v Tanzania
United Arab Emirates v Uganda
Papua New Guinea v Netherlands
Namibia v Scotland
November 26
Tanzania v United Arab Emirates
Thailand v Uganda
Netherlands v Namibia
Papua New Guinea v Scotland
November 28
Thailand v United Arab Emirates
Uganda v Tanzania
Scotland v Netherlands
Namibia v Papua New Guinea
November 30
Netherlands v Uganda
UAE v Namibia
Tanzania v Papua New Guinea
Thailand v Scotland
(IANS)
