2021_ICC_Women's_T20_World_Cup_Europe_Qualifier
2021 ICC Women's T20 World Cup Europe Qualifier
International cricket tournament
The 2021 ICC Women's T20 World Cup Europe Qualifier was a cricket tournament that was played in August 2021 in Spain.[1] The matches were played as Women's Twenty20 Internationals (WT20Is), with the top team progressing to the 2022 ICC Women's T20 World Cup Qualifier tournament.[2] Originally scheduled to take place in Scotland,[2] the tournament was moved to the La Manga Club, Spain, due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[3]
France and Turkey were both scheduled to make their debuts at an ICC women's event.[4] However, on 25 August 2021, the International Cricket Council (ICC) confirmed that Turkey had withdrawn from the tournament,[5] as they were unable to get approval to travel from the Turkish Sports Ministry.[6]
On the opening day of the tournament, Dutch cricketer Frederique Overdijk became the first bowler, male or female, to take seven wickets in a T20I match.[7] Scotland won the tournament, winning all four of their matches, and progressed to the Women's World Twenty20 Qualifier tournament.[8] Ireland finished in second place, after beating the Netherlands in their final match,[9] with Ireland's Eimear Richardson being named the player of the tournament.[10] Ireland may still advance to the Women's World Twenty20 Qualifier tournament via the place available to the highest ranked non-qualified team.[11]
During the tournament, questions were raised about the quality of the pitch at La Manga.[12] This resulted in the ICC moving the European 2022 Under-19 Cricket World Cup qualification matches from La Manga to the Desert Springs Cricket Ground in Almeria.[13]