Defending champions Australia, runners-up South Africa and semi-finalists India and England are among the eight teams to qualify directly for the next stage of the Women’s T20 World Cup in 2024, the ICC announced on Tuesday.
Meg Lanning-led Australia defeated South Africa by 19 runs in the final to win their sixth Women’s T20 World Cup title in Cape Town. Hosts South Africa finished the tournament as runners-up, while India and England were defeated by Australia and South Africa in the semi-finals respectively.
By the rule of qualification, Australia, New Zealand, and South Africa are the only teams to qualify directly as the top three teams from Group 1 in the league stage, while England, India, and West Indies qualify from Group 2.
Bangladesh qualifies as the hosts of the ninth edition of the tournament, while Pakistan qualifies by virtue of being the top eighth highest-ranked team in the ICC Women’s T20I Team Rankings as of 27 February.
Of the teams playing in this year’s tournament, Sri Lanka and Ireland are the only teams that failed to qualify directly. Sri Lanka is currently ranked eighth in the rankings while Ireland is ranked 10th.
The top two ranked teams in the Global Qualifier tournament will make up for the remaining two spots. The qualifying tournament will be played in early 2024. The ICC will announce the dates and venues of the tournament in due course.
