India set to play Pakistan in first match of the Women’s T20 Asia Cup

The Asian Cricket Council (ACC) earlier this week announced the full schedule for this year’s Women’s T20 Asia Cup set to begin on the 19th of July and to be played in Dambulla, Sri Lanka.

India will embark on their defence of the Asia Cup title against Pakistan in their first game at 7pm while UAE will play Nepal in the tournament opener earlier in the day.

The tournament will feature top eight teams of the continent divided into two groups of four. India is in Group B slotted alongside Pakistan, UAE and Nepal, hosts Sri Lanka are in Group A with Bangladesh, Thailand and Malaysia.

The top two teams from each group will qualify for the semi-finals, subsequently setting up the summit clash. The final shall be played on Sunday the 28th of July.

India, the most successful team in the competition’s history with seven titles, had got the better of Sri Lanka in the 2022 edition, clinching the final by eight wickets.

The only team who managed to beat India in their campaign was Pakistan. The tournament will act as a preparation stage in the lead up to the 2024 Women’s T20 World Cup that will be hosted in Bangladesh in October this year.