Dubai, Mar 21 (IANS): The International Cricket Council (ICC) on Thursday announced the fixtures for the qualifying tournament for ICC Women’s T20 World Cup 2024 to be hosted in Abu Dhabi, UAE from April 25 to May 7. In the Qualifier 2024, 10 teams will be battling it out for two spots in the Women’s T20 World Cup spots to be held in Bangladesh later this year.

Ten teams, divided into two groups of five each, will compete in the Qualifier in two Abu Dhabi venues from April 25. The two table-toppers from the two groups will feature in the semifinals on May 5 with the winners booking their tickets to Bangladesh and joining the hosts, Australia, England, India, New Zealand, Pakistan, South Africa and West Indies in the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup 2024 in September and October.

For the Qualifier 2024, Scotland, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Uganda and the United States of America (USA) feature in Group A, while Ireland, Netherlands, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Vanuatu and Zimbabwe make up Group B, the ICC informed on Thursday.

The event features eight teams from the five ICC Global Development Regions, as well as Ireland and Sri Lanka, who did not find a place in the top six of the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup 2023 in South Africa and therefore missed out on automatic qualification for this year’s ICC Women’s T20 World Cup.

The Qualifier will be staged at Zayed Cricket Stadium and Tolerance Oval, both form part of the Abu Dhabi Cricket and Sports Hub. Mohan Oval, also located in the same vicinity, will host two warm-up matches on April 21 and 23.

On the opening day, Sri Lanka will take on Thailand, while Scotland will play Uganda at Tolerance Oval. At Zayed Cricket Stadium, Ireland will face UAE and Zimbabwe will take on Vanuatu. The final will take place on May 7 at the Zayed Cricket Stadium.

Four matches will be played on each of the group stage match days -– two each at Tolerance Oval and Zayed Cricket Stadium.

ICC Head of Events, Chris Tetley said: “We are looking forward to the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup Qualifier as it is going to be a highly competitive and exciting event with 10 teams battling it out for two World Cup spots in Bangladesh later this year.

"Following the success of last year’s Women’s T20 World Cup in South Africa and with more fans engaged with the women’s game than ever before it will be an exciting few months building up to the World Cup. Teams are certain to have a great experience in UAE. We are grateful to the Emirates Cricket Board for their support in staging this event and I’m certain they will prove again what excellent hosts they are,” he said.

The groupings:

Group A:

Scotland, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Uganda and USA.

Group B:

Ireland, Netherlands, UAE, Vanuatu and Zimbabwe