KARACHI: South Africa women cricket team’s maiden visit to Pakistan will kick off the hosts’ 2023-24 international calendar, the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) announced on Friday.

Under newly appointed captain Nida Dar, Pakistan will take on the South Africans in three Twenty20 Internationals and as many one-dayers in the first half of September in Karachi.

The 50-over matches will be played as part of the 2022-25 ICC Women’s Championship, on the points table of which Pakistan sit second with five wins in nine matches.

“South Africa will be the fourth high-profile national women’s side to tour Pakistan in recent times,” read a PCB press release. “In January 2019, West Indies women played three T20Is in Karachi, while in May and November 2022, Sri Lanka and Ireland played ODIs and T20Is in Karachi and Lahore, respectively.”

Pakistan will continue their Women’s Championship campaign with their tour to Bangladesh in October, before flying to New Zealand a month after.

The national women’s side will return home to host the West Indies in April 2024 and will visit England in the following month.

This means Pakistan’s women cricketers will be involved in 15 Women’s Championship matches and 17 T20s over the next 12 months.

The tally of T20Is is likely to increase as the side is also expected to participate in the 19th Asian Games in Hangzhou, China, in September.

“With an aim to identify talent and invest in the future, the Pakistan Women’s Wing has also scheduled two emerging series against the West Indies (in October) and Bangladesh (January),” said the PCB.

“Against the West Indies Emerging side, Pakistan will play three 50-over and three T20 matches, while on the tour to Bangladesh, the Pakistan U19 squad will play five T20 matches.”

The forthcoming series against South Africa will be all-rounder Nida’s first series as captain. The all-rounder is one of most experienced players in the country with 99 ODIs and 130 T20s.

“The next 12 months will be incredibly busy for the Pakistan women’s cricket team and I look forward to the upcoming assignments with excitement and anticipation,” she said in a statement.

“These matches will contribute significantly in our endeavours to gain experience and exposure, and narrow gap with the front-runners.

“The busy season will start with the home series against South Africa, which will also be my first series as captain. I am hoping to make it a memorable one for myself by not only completing a century of ODIs but also assisting the side to collect valuable ICC Women’s Championship points so that we can finish in the upper half of the draw.”

Schedule:

Sep 1: First T20I

Sep 3: Second T20I

Sep 5: Third T20I

Sep 8: First ODI

Sep 11: Second ODI

Sep 14: Third ODI

Published in Dawn, June 17th, 2023