New Zealand to kick-off 2021 Women's World Cup at Eden Park
New Zealand the host’s of 2021 ICC Women's World Cup will kick-off the big event with a clash against a qualifier on February 6, 2021 at Eden Park. The schedule was released by ICC at the tournament's launch on March 11 which confirms that the games will be held at six different venues at total.
Auckland, Hamilton, Tauranga, Wellington, Christchurch and Dunedin will host the games with Christchurch chosen as the venue for the final on March 7 under lights. The two semifinal matches will be held at Tauranga and Hamilton on March 3 and March 4 respectively. ICC CEO, Manu Sawhney said that ICC has made a long-term commitment to elevating women's cricket.
"The ICC has made a long-term commitment to elevating women's cricket as part of our strategy to grow and develop the global game. We want to build a sustainable foundation for women's cricket. It is about building a product that fans want to watch, that kids want to take up, that sponsors and broadcasters want to be part of,” said Manu Sawhney, reported Cricbuzz.
"We are extremely proud of the significant progress we have made in increasing prize money for ICC events over the last few years, with the ICC Women's Cricket World Cup 2021 in New Zealand having $NZD5.5 million dollars available in prize money compared to $NZD3.1m in 2017 and $NZD316,000 in 2013," said Sawhney.
The tournament will see all eight teams facing each other once in the league stage. The top four teams at the conclusion of the group stage will then progress to the semifinals. Hamilton will play host to seven games in the tournament, which is the most, including the semifinal. Christchurch, Wellington and Tauranga will host six games each.