London : Former champions India will face hosts England at Derby, while New Zealand meets qualifier Sri Lanka in Bristol on the opening day of the ICC Women’s World Cup which gets underway on June 24, ICC said on Wednesday.
India will feature in four games in Derby, including the much-anticipated clash with its arch rival Pakistan on July 2. India will also take on the West Indies in Taunton, Australia in Bristol and South Africa in Leicester.
Reigning champion Australia will begin its title defence against West Indies at Taunton on June 26, said the International Cricket Council (ICC) said in a release.
The tournament will see 28 matches being held over 21 days. A round-robin between the world’s eig[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ABCDEFGH[/youtube]ht best teams will conclude with the semi-finals at Bristol and Derby before the final at Lord’s on July 23.
England will take on the six-time and reigning champion Australia in Bristol on July 9 and the highly-fancied New Zealand in Derby on July 12.
The big-hitting West Indies team, runner-up in the 2013 edition, will play three matches in Taunton including the repeat of the Mumbai final against Australia in the opening match at the County Ground on June 26.
Leicester will be the home venue for Pakistan with five of its seven matches being staged at Grace Road including matches against England on June 27 and Australia on July 5.