|
Pakistan will take on Ireland in the opening match of the first-ever international women’s cricket triangular One-day and Twenty20 championship, to be hosted by Qatar from January 10 to 24, 2014. |
To be held at the West End Park International Cricket Stadium, the event is being organised under the patronage of HE Salah bin Ghanem bin Nasser al-Ali, Minister of Youth and Sports, Qatar.
This is the first time Qatar has got the chance to host an event of this magnitude. South Africa is the third team in fray, besides Pakistan and Ireland. The championship will begin with the one-day games, which will be followed by the Twenty20 matches. This event has been sanctioned by the International Cricket Council (ICC), which is a historic first for the sport in Qatar.
“The championship will be a great opportunity for cricket lovers to enjoy some scintillating cricket in a festive atmosphere. I am sure it will promote the values of fair-play and the spirit of co-operation among all communities in Qatar. The tournament is more than a cricket contest in the sense that it will positively contribute towards fostering good relations between the competing countries,” said Mana Ibrahim al-Mana, Chairman of West End Park Group, which manages the 12,500-seater stadium that will host the matches.
He further said that this was only the beginning and that bigger things were in the offing. “This event is just the start. We aim to host much bigger tournaments with bigger teams. The facilities in the stadium are among the best in the GCC region, so we hope the successful hosting of this tournament will open the doors for greater possibilities in the near future,” he said.
The organisers plan to promote the event in schools and educational institutions which will help in encouraging the young crowd to come and cheer the teams. “All the matches will be day-night affairs. There will also be a fun zone on match weekends for families,” al-Mana added.
Qatar Cricket Association general secretary Manzoor Ahmad further informed that Qatar would also be hosting an Under-16 Asian Cricket Council event in October, in which six teams – Afghanistan, Kuwait, United Arab Emirates, Iran, Hong Kong besides hosts Qatar – would be taking part.
“We are also in talks with the Indian and Pakistan cricket boards to send their ‘A’ teams here. The Pakistan ‘A’ team is scheduled to come and play here sometime in 2014, the modalities of which are being worked out,” Ahmad said.
The three teams will play each other twice during the league phase, with the top two teams clashing in the final. The one-day matches will start at 1 pm and are expected to end by 8 in the evening. Two Twenty20 games will be played each day, starting 1 pm and 5 pm.
Fixtures
One-dayers (Matches start at 1 pm)
January 10: Pakistan v Ireland
January 11: South Africa v Ireland
January 12: Pakistan v South Africa
January 13: Pakistan v Ireland
January 14: Ireland v South Africa
January 15: South Africa v Pakistan
January 17: Final
Twenty20s (Matches at 1 pm & 5 pm)
January 19: Pakistan v South Africa (1 pm); Pakistan v Ireland (5 pm)
January 20: South Africa v Ireland (1 pm); Pakistan v Ireland (5 pm)
January 22: South Africa v Ireland (1 pm); Pakistan v South Africa (5 pm)
January 24: Final (5 pm)