India women’s cricket: Lucknow to host South Africa women’s team for 5 ODIs and 3 T20s

The Indian women’s cricket team will finally take the field after a long gap of over a year, with Lucknow emerging as the host for the South Africa women team’s eight-match limited overs series from next month. The South African tour, which includes five one-day internationals and 3 T20Is, was initially allotted to the Kerala Cricket Association, which declined to host it due to logistical reasons. 

“As per notification from the BCCI, India vs South Africa five ODIs and three T20s will be hosted by us at Bharat Ratna Shree Atal Bihari Vajpayee Ekana International stadium. Both teams are arriving on February 25th at Lucknow and ODI matches would begin on March 7 onwards,” Uttar Pradesh Cricket Association (UPCA) secretary Yudhvir Singh said in a statement.  

The remaining dates are as follows - the five ODIs will be held on March 7, 10, 12, 14 and 17 and three T20 Internationals will be on March 20, 22 and 24. 

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) are yet to make an official announcement about the dates as board officials want the players to assemble early and complete the bio-security protocols as well as mandatory quarantine.  

The BCCI has also been thinking about the women’s domestic matches and those games could start after the completion of the ongoing Vijay Hazare Trophy, which is currently taking place in six cities. It is likely that - Jaipur, Surat, Indore, Bengaluru, Kolkata and Chennai - will be staging the women’s matches as well.