New Zealand to host India ahead of the 2022 Women’s ODI World Cup

11/12/2021

The Indian women’s cricket team will play one T20I and five ODIs against the Kiwis on their home soil ahead of the 2022 ODI World Cup in New Zealand. The T20I fixture is scheduled for February 9 and the ODI matches will be played on 11, 14, 16, 22 and 24 in Napier, Nelson and Queenstown.

This series will be India Women's first assignment ahead of the rescheduled ODI World Cup, to be hosted by New Zealand for the first time after 2000 - when the hosts won after beating Australia by four runs in a low-scoring final.

The 50-over World Cup was scheduled to be played earlier this year but was postponed by one year due to the spread of Covid-19 virus. The last time both teams played against each other in a bilateral series was in January-February of 2019 as the Women In Blue won the three-match ODI series by 2-1, while White Ferns prevailed in the T20I series by beating the Harmanpreet Kaur-led team 3-0. The two teams last faced each other at the ICC T20 Women's World Cup in 2020.

India played a three-match ODI and as many T20I series in Australia alongside one-off Pink Ball Test, while New Zealand toured England for three-match T20I series and five-match ODI series.

Meanwhile, New Zealand cricket CEO David White in an official release, said that scheduling the series wasn't easy, adding that they had to work out the unexpected changes before finalising.

"It hasn't been a straight-forward process and we've needed to work through a number of unexpected changes before finalising the arrangements," White said in an NZC release.

"Having said that, I'm delighted with the volume and quality of the international cricket to be played over the summer, particularly given the importance of, and the relevance connected to these games. The India series is a crucial part of the WHITE FERNS' [New Zealand Women's] World Cup preparations."

The next major tournament for both teams will be the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham in July-August next year.