The Commonwealth Games will host cricket for the first time since 1998. This year, the Commonwealth Games will also feature the first-ever women’s tournament. 16 matches will be played at Edgbaston by eight sides. The winner will be crowned, and all medals will be awarded on August 7.
England is the host and automatically qualified for the tournament. The next five top teams in the ICC Women’s T20I rankings (Australia, India, New Zealand, South Africa, and Pakistan) also qualified. The Commonwealth Games Qualifier, which was held at Kinrara Oval, Malaysia, determined the final spot. Chamari Athapaththu’s Sri Lanka defeated Bangladesh, Scotland, and Malaysia for the final spot in the round-robin tournament. They went through the tournament undefeated.
In the final match, Sri Lanka beat their closest rivals in Nigar Sultana Joty’s by 22 runs. Athapaththu’s 48 (28) was the highest score of both teams. Athapaththu was, unsurprisingly, the top run-scorer in the tournament and will be the most dangerous opponent for Sri Lanka at the tournament itself.
Here are the details you need to know before the first ball of the T20 tournament on July 29.
Teams
There are two groups of four teams, with the top two from each group qualifying for the semis. The semi-finals will see the winner of each group’s first place. The semi-final losers will meet in a third-place playoff to win the bronze medal. The final will determine the gold or silver medallists.
Group A
Australia
Barbados
India
Pakistan
Group B
England
New Zealand
South Africa
Sri Lanka
Venue
All the matches will be played at Edgbaston, Birmingham.
Schedule
The matches will begin with Australia and India playing on July 29, at the Edgbaston ground, Birmingham. Barbados and Pakistan will then face off in the second match of the day.
| Date | Time (IST) | Teams |
| Jul 29, Friday | 3:30 PM | Australia Women vs India Women, 1st Match, Group A |
| Jul 29, Friday | 10:30 PM | Barbados Women vs Pakistan Women, 2nd Match, Group A |
| Jul 30, Saturday | 3:30 PM | New Zealand Women vs South Africa Women, 3rd Match, Group B |
| Jul 30, Saturday | 10:30 PM | England Women vs Sri Lanka Women, 4th Match, Group B |
| Jul 31, Sunday | 3:30 PM | India Women vs Pakistan Women, 5th Match, Group A |
| Jul 31, Sunday | 10:30 PM | Australia Women vs Barbados Women, 6th Match, Group A |
| Aug 02, Tuesday | 3:30 PM | England Women vs South Africa Women, 7th Match, Group B |
| Aug 02, Tuesday | 10:30 PM | New Zealand Women vs Sri Lanka Women, 8th Match, Group B |
| Aug 03, Wednesday | 3:30 PM | Australia Women vs Pakistan Women, 9th Match, Group A |
| Aug 03, Wednesday | 10:30 PM | India Women vs Barbados Women, 10th Match, Group A |
| Aug 04, Thursday | 3:30 PM | South Africa Women vs Sri Lanka Women, 11th Match, Group B |
| Aug 04, Thursday | 10:30 PM | England Women vs New Zealand Women, 12th Match, Group B |
| Aug 06, Saturday | 3:30 PM | TBC vs TBC, 1st Semi-Final |
| Aug 06, Saturday | 10:30 PM | TBC vs TBC, 2nd Semi-Final |
| Aug 07, Sunday | 2:30 PM | TBC vs TBC, 3rd Place Play-off |
| Aug 07, Sunday | 9:30 PM | TBC vs TBC, Final |
Squad
India is in Group A with Australia, Barbados, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka. Group B hosts England, New Zealand, and South Africa.
Australia
Meg Lanning (c), Rachael Haynes, Darcie Brown, Nicola Carey, Ashleigh Gardner, Grace Harris, Alyssa Healy, Jess Jonassen, Alana King, Tahlia McGrath, Beth Mooney, Ellyse Perry, Megan Schutt, Annabel Sutherland, Amanda-Jade Wellington.
Barbados
Aaliyah Alleyne, Shanika Bruce, Shai Carrington, Shaunte Carrington, Shamilia Connell, Deandra Dottin, Keila Elliott, Trishan Holder, Kycia Knight, Kyshona Knight, Hayley Matthews (c), Alisa Scantlebury, Shakera Selman, Tiffany Thorpe, Aaliyah Williams.
England:
Heather Knight (c), Maia Bouchier, Katherine Brunt, Alice Capsey, Kate Cross, Freya Davies, Sophia Dunkley, Sophie Ecclestone, Sarah Glenn, Amy Jones, Freya Kemp, Nat Sciver, Bryony Smith, Issy Wong, Danni Wyatt.
India:
Harmanpreet Kaur (c), Smriti Mandhana, Shafali Verma, Sabbhineni Meghana, Taniya Sapna Bhatia, Yastika Bhatia, Deepti Sharma, Rajeshwari Gayakwad, Pooja Vastrakar, Meghna Singh, Renuka Thakur, Jemimah Rodrigues, Radha Yadav, Harleen Deol, Sneh Rana.
New Zealand:
Sophie Devine (c), Suzie Bates, Eden Carson, Izzy Gaze, Claudia Green, Maddy Green, Brooke Halliday, Hayley Jensen, Fran Jonas, Amelia Kerr, Rosemary Mair, Jess McFadyen, Georgia Plimmer, Hannah Rowe, Lea Tahuhu.
Pakistan:
Bismah Maroof (c), Aiman Anwar, Aliya Riaz, Anam Amin, Ayesha Naseem, Diana Baig, Fatima Sana, Gull Feroza, Iram Javed, Kainat Imtiaz, Muneeba Ali Siddiqui, Nida Dar, Omaima Sohail, Sadia Iqbal, Tuba Hassan.
South Africa:
Suné Luus (c), Chloé Tryon, Anneke Bosch, Trisha Chetty, Nadine de Klerk, Mignon du Preez, Lara Goodall, Shabnim Ismail, Sinalo Jafta, Marizanne Kapp, Ayabonga Khaka, Masabata Klaas, Nonkululeko Mlaba, Tumi Sekhukhune, Laura Wolvaardt.
Sri Lanka
Chamari Athapaththu (c), Hasini Perera, Harshitha Samarawickrama, Vishmi Gunaratne, Malsha Shehani, Nilakshi de Silva, Kavisha Dilhari, Ama Kanchana, Achini Kulasuriya, Inoka Ranaweera, Udeshika Prabodhani, Sugandika Kumari, Rashmi de Silva, Oshadi Ranasinghe, Anushka Sanjeewani.
Where to watch In India?
Watch the LIVE coverage of Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games on SONY SIX, SONY TEN 1, SONY TEN 2, SONY TEN 3 & SONY TEN 4 channels starting from 28th July 2022 at 11:30 pm IST.
Pooja Chandak is an avid reader and an experienced content writer. Apart from blogs, she writes quotes and poems. She started writing when she was in school. Pooja currently works as a Content Development Executive for a Mumbai-based company.