Calling all cricket fans: this Friday marks the first round of the Proteas’ journey through the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup. South Africa’s women’s Protea team, and this year’s, are looking to outperform their last showing where the team reached the semi-finals in the 2020 World Cup in Australia. A win would go down nicely.
This year’s tournament is the first senior ICC World Cup to be held on South African soil since 2007, and a first for the Women’s team entirely. As the hosts, South Africa will be the first to step onto the pitch against Sri Lanka on Friday, 10 February at 19:00 SAST.
But how?
You’ve got a couple of viewing options to follow the action. You can watch them live and in person, though there are a few caveats to contend with. Firstly, tickets aren’t available for every single match and second, watching every game at the various parks and stadiums will soon prove to be an expensive venture. If you’ve got the moola and don’t mind missing a couple of matches here and there – grab your tickets here.
If you’re keen to see all 23 ICC World Cup matches from the comfort of your own home, you’ll have to give into the monopoly that is DStv. SuperSport is the sole broadcaster for the event, which means you’ll need a decoder already installed or a half-decent internet connection. We’ll get to that.
Going down the DStv route
If you’ve already got a DStv Premium subscription, you’re all set. The people that have avoided giving MultiChoice any money will need to cough up the dough for a DStv Premium subscription in order to watch. Whether you keep it after the tournament is done, is entirely your prerogative. Be warned — certain DStv subscriptions often require you to adhere to a 24-month contract. That’s ok – we’ll steer you in the right direction.
The first step is to take a deep breath. You won’t have to pay for DStv forever. Unless you want to. Head over to DStv’s signup page and check out the Premium products on sale. You’ll notice that the cheapest package available under the Premium umbrella is the stream-only bundle for R700/m and runs on a month-to-month basis. If you’ve got an internet connection that can handle streaming, we recommend you go for this bundle. To stream in SD quality, you’ll need a 4MB+ line, with HD streaming requiring at least a 10MB line.
The four other DStv Premium bundles require the installation of a decoder and can cost quite a bit more than the stream-only option. If you’re in the market for a decoder and 24-month contract, go ahead and choose what suits you. But that’s not the best option if all you care about is the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup.
Read More: “Anti-load shedding” channels are DStv and Openview’s excuse to show even more reruns
I have DStv, now what?
Download the DStv app on your TV, TV Box, tablet or mobile phone. Log in, and you’re all set. Head over to channel 212 on Friday, 10 February at 19:00 for the first game between South Africa and Sri Lanka. The full schedule for the tournament can be found here, with local times available.
Some matches, like the two on Saturday, 11 February, won’t be shown on channel 212 to make space for the XXSA20 final. Instead, they’ll be moved to channel 210 – but just for the day. After that, they’ll be returning to channel 212. You can check out DStv’s TV guide to see when and where matches are playing.
Now add: SuperSport and ICC Highlights
On the odd occasion that you won’t be able to watch a match live (in person or otherwise), you’ll need a way to keep up to date with the scores and outcomes. That’s where the SuperSport app comes in. Download the app to your phone or tablet (iOS, Android) and sign in or make a new account. Upon signup, you’ll be asked to choose where your interests lie. Find the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup and turn notifications on, and you won’t miss any of the “action”.
Or, if you’re interested in the past ICC T20 Women’s World Cup that saw South Africa reach the semi-finals, there are highlights available to watch for free on ICC’s website. You’ll have to sign in or register a new account to start watching.