USA-Canada to Compete in Pursuit of World Cup Spots

Dubai [UAE], May 15 (ANI): The United States and Canada will compete in the ICC Women's Qualifier Americas, beginning May 17, to continue their journey to the ICC Women's T20 World Cup 2020 and ICC Women's Cricket World Cup 2021.The teams will play three T20 Internationals in as many days at Fort Lauderdale, Florida. The USA and Canada are just two steps away from the tournaments to be held in Australia and New Zealand in 2020 and 2021 respectively, meaning the honour of representing their region in the next phase of qualification is up for grabs.The Women's Qualifier Americas is one of five regional tournaments acting as a dual qualifier for 27 teams. Firstly, in their pursuit of a spot in the ICC Women's T20 World Cup Qualifier - taking place in Scotland between August 31 and September 7 this year where they will join Bangladesh, Ireland, Scotland, PNG, Thailand, and Zimbabwe.Secondly, the winner will also compete in the ICC Women's Cricket World Cup Qualifier 2020, where it will join confirmed teams Bangladesh, Ireland, PNG, Thailand, and Zimbabwe.USA captain Sindhu Sriharsha, who took up cricket aged seven before being enrolled into her first formal coaching camp as a nine-year-old, said: "We'd be ecstatic if we qualified for the next phase. We have all worked hard for a few years now and we totally deserve the win. Our goal is to qualify for the World Cup.""By qualifying from the Americas, we would have checked off the first step towards it. As a team, we have unity in diversity, we come from different cultures and countries. We are 14 individuals and support staff working towards one common goal - the USA in the World Cup."On the other hand, Canada captain Mahwish Khan, whose full-time profession is a manager, said: "If we qualified, it would mean the world. Having qualified previously, it was an amazing experience then and would be just as amazing if we qualified again.""The opportunity to represent the entire region at a qualifying event is not only amazing in itself, but the chance to play against so many other countries from around the world is an incredible experience. I would be extremely honoured and humbled to be a part of making history for Canada once more."Following are the squads:USA: Sindhu Sriharsha (c), Candacy Atkins, Claudine Beckford, Shebani Bhaskar, Sara Farooq, Nadia Gruny, Uzma Iftikhar, Sugetha Kalyanaraman, Mahika Kandanala, Geetika Kodali, Samantha Ramautar, Lisa Ramjit, Erica Rendler, Onika WallersonCanada: Mahwish Khan (c), Hala Azmat, Habeeba Bader, Maliha Baig, Mahrukh Imtiaz, Miryam Khokhar, Chuntell Martin, Kamna Mirchandani, Monali Patel, Achini Perera, Kainat Qazi, Hiba Shamshad, Amanjit Virk, Saniyah Zia. (ANI)

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