South Africa is set to host West Indies and India in East London for a T20I tri-series in January-February 2023 as preparation ahead of the Women's T20 World Cup at home. The three teams will be playing each other twice in the round-robin phase. The top two teams after the round-robin stage will be playing the final on February 2. All the games of the tri-series will be played in Buffalo Park.
Eight days after the tri-series, the World Cup will kick off on February 10. During the Marquee Tournament, South Africa is placed in Group A along with Australia, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and New Zealand. Whereas the Indian team will be part of Group B with West Indies, England, Ireland and Pakistan. The final of the World Cup will be taking place in Newlands, Cape Town on February 26.
CSA released a statement regarding the Tri-series where the director of cricket, Enoch Nkwe talked about how this tournament will be the perfect build-up for the T20 World Cup. He said, “These two sides [India and West Indies] are up there with the most talented and entertaining nations in women's T20 cricket, having featured in two of the last four finals, with the West Indies lifting the trophy in 2016. This will give the Momentum Proteas a highly competitive build-up to the ultimate prize of the T20 World Cup.”
Chief Executive of CSA, Pholetsi Moseki commented on the Tri-series and thanked the cricketing boards of India and West Indies for their support. He said, “On behalf of Cricket South Africa (CSA), I would like to extend my gratitude to the Board of Control for Cricket in India and Cricket West Indies for their collaboration in organizing the series at a critical stage of the season.
Tri-series schedule:
Thursday, 19 January 2023 - South Africa vs India
Saturday, 21 January 2023 - South Africa vs West Indies
Monday, 23 January 2023 - India vs West Indies
Wednesday, 25 January 2023 - South Africa vs West Indies
Saturday, 28 January 2023 - South Africa vs India
Monday, 30 January 2023 - West Indies vs India
Thursday, 02 February 2023 - Tri-Series Final