Pacific MMI PNG Lewas slotted in for ICC Womens World T20 Qualifier in November

The Pacific MMI PNG Lewas have been pooled alongside Bangladesh, Scotland and Thailand for the International Cricket Council (ICC) Womens World T20 Qualifier to take place in Bangkok, Thailand from the 28th November to 5th December this year.

The ICC made the announcement on Sunday and eight sides will go head to head in the week-long tournament with the two finalists joining reigning champion Australia, England, India, New Zealand, Pakistan, South Africa, Sri Lanka and the West Indies in the ICC World Twenty20 in India, which will be staged alongside the men’s event from 11 March to 3 April 2016.

These eight sides have earned direct qualification to next year’s event after finishing in the top eight of the previous event, which was held in Bangladesh, while Bangladesh and Ireland have progressed to the qualification tournament after finishing ninth and 10th, respectively.

The event host, Thailand, is joined by China, Netherlands, Papua New Guinea (PNG), Scotland, and Zimbabwe which all qualified for the ICC Women’s World Twenty20 Qualifier 2015 through regional tournaments.

According to event format, the eight sides have been divided into two groups with the top two from each group moving to the Trophy semi-finals and bottom two from each group playing in the Shield semi-finals. The teams contesting the Trophy final will qualify for the ICC World Twenty20 2016.

The 20 matches will be equally shared between the Thailand Cricket Ground (TCG) and Asian Institute of Technology Ground (AIT) with the former holding the Trophy play-off as well as the final on 5 December and the latter staging the Shield play-off and the final on the same day.

This is the second edition of the ICC Women’s World Twenty20 Qualifier, after the 2013 event was hosted by Ireland with Pakistan and Sri Lanka as joint winners. Ireland was the third side to qualify for the ICC Women’s World Twenty20 2014.

The Pacific MMI PNG Lewas will also for the first time in history represent PNG in the Pacific Games as a women’s national cricket team.