Dubai, Sharjah to host Women's T20 WC

The 10-team tournament will get underway at the Sharjah Stadium on October 3.

DUBAI:

The 23 matches at the ICC Women's T20 World Cup 2024 will be shared between two venues as 10 teams converge in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) to compete for the trophy.

The tournament will get underway at the Sharjah Cricket Stadium, a regular on the international cricket circuit, on October 3.

Then it's the turn of the Dubai International Stadium (DIS) to take centre stage the following day, with the ground also hosting the Final on 20 October.

Here, we take a closer look at the two venues and some of the standout matches that have been played at both.

Dubai International Stadium is the newer of the two venues being used, with the 25,000-capacity stadium first opening in 2009.

The first international to take place at the ground was Pakistan's ODI against Australia in April of that year, with Shahid Afridi starring in that series and the T20 series that followed.

Its first women's ODI was Pakistan vs West Indies in February 2019 and DIS hosted its first women's T20 international in September 2023 when UAE hosted Namibia.

Dubai International Stadium will host 12 matches in the ICC Women's T20 World Cup, including the final on 20 October. Its first matches will be on 4 October, with 2023 finalists, South Africa taking on 2016 champions West Indies before India take on New Zealand.

Other standout matches at the venue include India's clash against Pakistan in Group A and the final match in Group B between England, inaugural champions in 2009, and the West Indies.

Since it opened in 1982, Sharjah Cricket Stadium has hosted over 200 One-Day Internationals (ODIs), the first of which being Pakistan vs Sri Lanka in April 1984.

The ground has become such a favourite of the international circuit that it entered the Guinness Book of World Records just over a decade ago for having hosted more ODIs than any other with a capacity to hold 16,000 spectators.

The first women's ODI to take place there was on 9 January, 2015 when Pakistan hosted Sri Lanka.