ICC Women's World Cup: India to face Pakistan in opening encounter on March 6

India will face Pakistan in their opening match of ICC Women's Cricket World Cup 2022 here in Tauranga on March 6, 2022.

The showpiece event will get underway on March 4, 2022 at the Bay Oval in Tauranga, with the hosts New Zealand taking on West Indies.

England and Australia will then lock horns the following day at Seddon Park in Hamilton.

A total of 31 matches will be staged across 31 days, with the eight teams clashing to clinch the World Cup title.

India's schedule:

March 6: India vs Pakistan, Tauranga
March 10: New Zealand vs India, Hamilton
March 12: West Indies vs India, Hamilton
March 16: England vs India, Tauranga
March 19: India vs Australia, Auckland
March 22: India vs Bangladesh, Hamilton
March 27: India vs South Africa, Christchurch

According to ICC, Australia, England, South Africa and India qualified for the event on the basis of their position in ICC Women's Championship 2017-20 while New Zealand automatically qualified as they were hosts.

The megaevent will be played in the league format, where all eight nations will face each other once, at the end of which the top four teams will qualify for the semi-finals.

The first semi-final of the World Cup will be played at The Basin Reserve in Wellington on March 30 while The Hagley Oval will staged the second semi-final on March 31.

The finals of the tournament will be played on April 3. Both the semi-finals and the finals will have a reserve day in place as per ICC.

(With ANI inputs)