Proteas face England

ENGLAND will play for the first time at home since their Women’s World Cup victory last year when they take on South Africa in the Women’s Championship series starting on Saturday.

The nine-run win over India at Lord’s on July 23 went down as a watershed moment for the women’s game.

With two memorable matches between England and South Africa also part of that tournament, the upcoming series is bound to continue to evoke interest in women’s cricket through the ICC Women’s Championship, established to give more regular competitive opportunities to the eight sides.

Just as the previous cycle of the eight-team tournament helped determine the direct qualifiers for the World Cup in England and Wales, the second edition of the ICC Women’s Championship is the pathway to qualification for the ICC Women’s World Cup 2021 in New Zealand.

Hosts New Zealand and the three other top sides from this tournament will qualify for the World Cup while the remaining four sides will get another chance through the ICC Women’s World Cup Qualifier. England captain Heather Knight is enthusiastic about their second series of the championship, which they start with two points from three matches on the points table following a series against Australia, the same as South Africa.

England also host New Zealand next month for their third series of the championship, getting a chance to strike rhythm in home games.

Knight said: “It’s always good to play at home. Our opening game against South Africa will be the first time we’ve played at home since the day we lifted the ICC Women’s World Cup trophy, so that will be exciting.

“We’ll relish our own conditions but both South Africa and New Zealand are really good sides and we will have to be at our best to beat them.

England defeated South Africa twice in Bristol during last year’s World Cup – by 68 runs in a high-scoring league match and by two wickets with only two balls remaining in the semi-final, and that is something South Africa want to rectify.

South Africa captain Dane van Niekerk said: “We’re quite excited. We know it’s going to be a big challenge. They are the World Cup winners and we know what they can bring in. They are fierce competitors, so we are quite excited to see how we are going to match up against them.

“The World Cup was a great experience for us. We know the conditions really well. We will see what they give us. Last time was a bitter pill to swallow so it will be good to rectify what went wrong. As a captain, I will always back my team and I will say we have a very good chance against them.” – African News Agency (ANA)