Papua New Guinea (PNG) have withdrawn from the ICC Women’s World Cup Qualifier 2021 in Zimbabwe as they are unable to send a team due to several members of the squad testing positive for Covid-19.

PNG were to take on defending champions the West Indies on the opening day of the tournament, which runs from November 21 to December 5 across four venues in Harare.

According to the International Cricket Council (ICC), there will be no replacement for PNG in Group A, which will now consist of four teams – Sri Lanka, Ireland, the Netherlands and the West Indies. The five-team Group B comprises Pakistan, Bangladesh, Thailand, Zimbabwe and the United States.

"I really feel for the PNG players, who have been preparing extensively for this event and for whom it would have been a wonderful experience playing against several top sides in Harare, with the opportunity to qualify for the Women’s World Cup and the next round of the ICC Women’s Championship," said ICC Head of Events Chris Tetley.

KPHL PNG Lewas and support staff have arrived at the Hilton Hotel for their quarantine.#backthelewas pic.twitter.com/43lpRUOwjD

— Cricket PNG (@Cricket_PNG) October 30, 2021

The Zimbabwe event is an important one on the calendar as it decides three qualifiers for the ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup 2022 to be held in New Zealand from March 4 to April 3, joining five teams who have already qualified through the ICC Women’s Championship – Australia, England, India, South Africa and hosts New Zealand.

The three qualifiers as well as the next two teams will also ensure places in the next ICC Women’s Championship (IWC) along with the top five from last time, as the number of teams in the third cycle of the IWC goes up from eight to 10 teams.

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