Dubai, Nov 15 (IANS) The International Cricket Council (ICC) on Saturday unveiled the schedule for the inaugural ICC Women’s Emerging Nations Trophy T20I, to be staged in Bangkok, Thailand, from November 20 to 30, marking another significant stride in the ICC’s global strategy to promote women’s cricket and expand worldwide participation in the sport.

The T20I tournament will be played by the top eight Associate Members, of which five hold ODI status, and the remaining three are the highest-ranked teams in the ICC Women’s T20I Team Rankings as of May 1, 2025, the cut-off date.

Eight teams – Thailand, the Netherlands, Papua New Guinea, the United Arab Emirates, Scotland, Namibia, Tanzania, and Uganda – will compete across two venues, the Terdthai Cricket Ground and the Asian Institute of Technology in Bangkok.

The eight teams will play each other once in a single round-robin structure, with the trophy to be lifted on November 30. The hosts come into the tournament as the highest-ranked (11th), and do enjoy a nine-match winning streak in completed matches, though they will be tested with the bat against a strong field.

ICC CEO Sanjog Gupta said, “It is the ICC and the Chair’s vision to sustainably expand Cricket’s footprint across the world and grow the women’s game. Providing elite athletes from emerging nations more opportunities to play at the highest level is aimed at fast-tracking their development and improving the competitiveness of their teams. It also drives the visibility of the sport in participant nations, serving as a driver of girls’ involvement in the sport and inspires women from other nations to stay committed to the development pathways.”

Schedule:

November 20

Thailand v Netherlands

Papua New Guinea v United Arab Emirates

Scotland v Uganda

Namibia v Tanzania

November 21

Thailand v Papua New Guinea

Netherlands v United Arab Emirates

Uganda v Namibia

Scotland v Tanzania

November 23

Uganda v Papua New Guinea

Tanzania v Netherlands

United Arab Emirates v Scotland

Thailand v Namibia

November 25

Thailand v Tanzania

United Arab Emirates v Uganda

Papua New Guinea v Netherlands

Namibia v Scotland

November 26

Tanzania v United Arab Emirates

Thailand v Uganda

Netherlands v Namibia

Papua New Guinea v Scotland

November 28

Thailand v United Arab Emirates

Uganda v Tanzania

Scotland v Netherlands

Namibia v Papua New Guinea

November 30

Netherlands v Uganda

UAE v Namibia

Tanzania v Papua New Guinea

Thailand v Scotland

–IANS

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