LAHORE: As many as six teams will vie for the title of the National Women’s T20 Tournament, which starts in Islamabad and Rawalpindi from Jan. 15, the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) announced on Friday.

The tournament will feature sides from the Karachi, Lahore, Multan, Peshawar, Quetta and Rawalpindi regions.

The 17-day tournament will see each team play 10 matches, before the top two sides feature in the final on Jan. 31. The venue of the final will be announced in due course.

The double round-robin matches will take place in Rawalpindi’s Ayub Park Ground and Islamabad’s Diamond Cricket Ground and Shoaib Akhtar Stadium.

“The National Women’s T20 Tournament 2024 serves a great opportunity for the players to stake a claim in the national team ahead of the busy international year,” the PCB said in a press release.

“Pakistan women are set to feature in at least eight T20Is (five T20Is against West Indies, three T20Is against England) before taking part in the ACC Women’s T20 Asia Cup and ICC Women’s T20 World Cup later this year.”

The winning team will receive Rs 1million, while the runners-up will get Rs 0.5million.

The PCB said it had also finalised the six squads, which consist of 16 players each. The squads have been selected by the national women’s selection committee headed by former Test cricketer Saleem Jaffar.

Published in Dawn, January 13th, 2024