England will open Women's World Cup defence against Australia in Auckland in 2021
Wednesday 11 March 2020 10:27, UK
Defending champions England will begin the defence of their 50-over World Cup title against Australia in Auckland next February.
Heather Knight's side, which pulled off a dramatic nine-run win over India at Lord's in 2017, will play a total of seven matches in the round-robin stage of the 2021 tournament in New Zealand.
At present only England, South Africa, Australia and the hosts have qualified with either India or Pakistan joining them depending on results in the ICC Women's Championship.
The side that misses out will go into a qualifying tournament, where they will face Ireland, the Netherlands, West Indies, Bangladesh, Thailand, Zimbabwe, the United States, Papua New Guinea and Sri Lanka - where the matches will take place in the summer.
England recently were denied a shot at adding the T20 World Cup crown to their 50-over title when their semi-final against India was rained off in Sydney without a ball bowled.
England's Women's World Cup fixtures
February 7: vs Australia, Auckland
February 10: vs Qualifier, Hamilton
February 13: vs Qualifier, Dunedin
February 17: vs South Africa, Wellington (Basin Reserve)
February 21: vs Qualifier, Mount Maunganui
February 24: vs Qualifier, Christchurch
February 28: vs New Zealand, Christchurch
The semi-finals of the competition will take place on March 3 and March 4 in Mount Maunganui and Hamilton respectively with the final being staged under lights in Christchurch on March 7.
For more information on the ICC Women's Cricket World Cup 2021 and to pre-register for tickets, visit icc-cricket.com/cwc21
