Having been delayed from its original scheduled date earlier this year, the latest edition of the Women’s Cricket World Cup is starting to appear on the horizon.
March 2022 sees eight countries from around the world compete for the title which was first contested back in 1973. This will be the 12th edition of the tournament but what can we expect from a month of world class cricketing action?
The Format
This is the 50-Over version of the World Cup and is not to be confused with the T20 competition. In the 2022 tournament, each team will receive 50 overs with the aim of scoring as many runs as possible in that allotted period.
Eight teams will be taking part in the 2022 Women’s World Cup and a total of 31 matches will be played. The initial stage involves a league phase where each nation will play each other once. At the end of that sequence, the top four teams will progress to the semifinals.
New Zealand will play host to the competition which starts on March 4th 2022. The tournament will conclude with the final which is set to take place at the Hagley Oval in Christchurch on April 3rd.
The eight best teams in the women’s game will face off but who is most likely to come away with the title?
Front Runners
England are the defending champions after claiming victory on home soil back in 2017. The team, led by Heather Knight is strong in all forms of the game and is likely to include many players from that successful squad of five years ago.
England beat India in that 2017 final and the Indians will be even stronger this time around. Many top young players have come through to join the established members of the squad.
The team likely to attract the most attention is Australia who are the most successful country in the history of this tournament. They’ve won six of the previous 11 ODI World Cups and they go into the competition as the number one ranked team in both forms of limited overs cricket.
With home advantage, New Zealand will also get some support. They are a difficult side to beat and will make best use of the familiar conditions. The White Ferns have also enjoyed success in this tournament although we have to go back to 2000 to find their solitary World Cup title to date.
It’s going to be tight at the top with betting markets likely to show Australia as favourites, closely followed by England and India. New Zealand will be trailing to an extent but they will attract interest in fourth place.
Sports betting sites affiliated with arabianbetting.com will start to fill up in 2022 and they will adjust once the tournament gets underway. The odds will be updated and the market remains in place until such time as the competition comes to a close.
Arabianbetting.com covers all cricket very closely and there will also be a number of news and opinion articles on the site. All of this information can be put to good use if readers want to get involved with those markets.
The sportsbooks linked to the website will take on new account holders and a number of generous welcome offers can be expected. Ongoing promotions can follow while each operator should also provide choice in terms of funding options and customer service.
This can be a handy partner for the Women’s World Cup but should anyone be looking beyond those top four sides?
In Contention
Also playing in the 2022 tournament are the West Indies, South Africa, Pakistan and Bangladesh. Each of those sides can be competitive but all four are waiting for their first ever ODI World Cup victory.
If there is to be an upset, the West Indies could be the ones to provide it. They have a strong squad, many of whom were part of the team that won the T20 version of the World Cup in 2016.
Whatever happens, it’s certain to be an entertaining tournament in New Zealand in 2022 and one that will continue to raise the profile of women’s cricket around the world.
