National Women’s T20 Tournament begins today in Karachi

Pakistan women cricket team huddled during a game. — PCB/File

KARACHI: The National Women’s T20 Tournament is set to begin on Wednesday in Karachi.

Five teams are participating in the tournament, with matches to be played at the National Bank Stadium and High Performance Centre Oval Ground.

Two matches will be played on the opening day. National One Day Champions Stars will face Strikers at the National Bank Stadium, while Conquerors will take on Invincibles at the Oval Ground.

The five participating teams are Challengers, Conquerors, Invincibles, Stars, and Strikers. Under the double-league format, each team will play eight matches, with a total of 22 matches scheduled.

The teams finishing second and third on the points table will face each other in the qualifier on May 22. The winner will play the top-ranked team in the final on May 24, which will be held at the National Bank Stadium.

A total of 80 cricketers will participate in the tournament. The total prize money exceeds 3 million rupees. The winning team will receive 1.5 million rupees, while the runners-up will get 1 million rupees.

Five national players who were part of Pakistan’s victorious squad in the recently concluded ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup Qualifier 2025 are leading their respective teams: Fatima Sana (Conquerors), Gul Feroza (Strikers), Muneeba Ali (Invincibles), Sidra Ameen (Stars), and Rameen Shamim (Challengers).

All five captains, expressed confidence about their performance in the tournament. Fatima Sana, captain of the Conquerors, said: “We will try to perform well in the T20 tournament. All players are eager to showcase their skills and contribute to the team. We couldn’t win the final in the One Day tournament, but this is a T20 event, and we’ll try not to repeat past mistakes and perform better this time.”

Rameen Shamim, captain of the Challengers, said: “We’ve made plans for the tournament with the coaching staff and will try to implement them on the field. We have a balanced squad, and our goal is to achieve positive results in every match.”

Muneeba Ali, captain of the Invincibles, said: “We’ll focus on one match at a time and try to gain momentum by winning the initial games. I’ll try to contribute as much as I can to the team’s performance.”

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