ACC announces schedule for Women's Asia Cup 2024, India to take on UAE in opening fixture

India will take on UAE to start off their campaign in the Women’s Asia Cup 2024 revealed the Asian Cricket Council (ACC) while announcing the fixtures of the tournament on Tuesday, March 26. The tournament is set to be hosted by Sri Lanka in July two months ahead of the T20 World Cup 2024 in September-October in Bangladesh.

The continental event is set to commence from July 19 with Pakistan taking on Nepal and India taking on UAE on the opening day. All the matches of the tournament will be held in Dambulla as the ACC has increased the number of participating teams from seven to eight in the upcoming edition.

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"The increased participation promises to make this tournament even more competitive and thrilling for cricket fans across the region. In line with the ACC's vision for inclusivity and equality in cricket, the Women's Asia Cup 2024 will continue the tradition of having all female referees and umpires, following the successful implementation of the same in the previous edition," the ACC said in a statement.

The eight participating teams have been divided into two groups of four each with India, Pakistan UAE and Nepal in Group A while Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Malaysia and Thailand take up the slots in Group B. After starting their campaign against UAE, defending champions India will take on Pakistan on July 21 and Nepal on July 23.

India are most successful team of Women's Asia Cup 2024

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Teams finishing in the top two of each group will qualify for the semi-finals where A1 will lock horns with B2 and vice versa. The winners of the two semi-finals will fight for the coveted title in the final on Sunday, July 28.  The Women in Blue are the most dominant team of the tournament having won seven out of the eight editions of the tournament so far starting from 2004. The only other team to win the tournament is Bangladesh who clinched the title in 2018 after beating Malaysia in the final.