DUBAI: The ICC Women’s T20 World Cup begins on Thursday in the UAE with 10 teams featuring in the 18-day showpiece.

Pakistan are placed in Group ‘A’ alongside Australia, India, New Zealand and Sri Lanka while Bangladesh, England, Scotland, South Africa and the West Indies are in Group ‘B’.

The Fatima Sana-led Pakistan take on Sri Lanka in their opening match of the tournament on Thursday at the Sharjah Cricket Stadium and then face arch-rivals India on Oct 6 at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium.

Pakistan in another major game lock horns with defending champions Australia on Oct 11 in Dubai, while their last group match will be against New Zealand on Oct 14 at the same venue.

Bangladesh face Scotland at Sharjah in the opening match of the event on Thursday.

According to the format, top two sides from each group will qualify for the semi-finals set to take place on Oct 17 and 18, while the winners of the tournament will be decided on Oct 20 in Dubai.

Pakistan did not have an ideal preparation for the mega event as they lost both the warm-ups, against Scotland and Bangladesh.

However, Fatima sounded confident about the team’s preparations and expressed her belief to do well in the tournament.

“We have prepared well for this mega event. The series against South Africa at home before coming to the UAE helped us know our strengths and allowed our batters to show their form,” she said.

“The practice games have also helped us in assessing the conditions here and now has provided us with clarity regarding the right combination of players.”

AUSSIES FAVOURITES

Australia meanwhile are hot favourites for their seventh title at the women’s T20 World Cup in their first tournament appearance since the retirement of four-time tournament-winning captain Meg Lanning.

New skipper Alyssa Healy faces a challenge in the UAE, leading a team that has only failed twice to win the 20-over trophy since the competition was first staged in 2009.

The 34-year-old wicketkeeper-batter has been a member of all six of Australia’s prior title wins but said she was entering this year’s tournament with “no real expectations”.

“It’s the best against the best and whoever can be most consistent or win those little moments along the way can get the job done,” Healy wrote in a column for the ICC website.

She nonetheless said her team was brimming with young talent, naming up-and-coming all-rounder Annabel Sutherland, 22, and batting phenomenon Phoebe Litchfield, 21, as players to watch.

Australia face formidable rivals India and New Zealand in their group. They arrive in the UAE fresh from a 3-0 T20 sweep of the Kiwis.

India’s prospects have been buoyed by the runaway success of the Women’s Premier League at home since the 20-over competition’s inaugural season last year.

“If I talk about this team, we have a few players who have been playing for a long time and they know their roles really well,” skipper Harmanpreet Kaur said. “This is the best team we are going for a T20 World Cup with.”

New Zealand’s Sophie Devine will step down as captain at the end of the tournament after playing in every World Cup, earning two runner-up finishes.

“The T20 World Cup’s been an important vehicle in the development and growth of the women’s game,” Devine said.

The South Africans, who lost to Australia in last year’s final in Cape Town, have a new captain in Laura Wolvaardt who is keen to build on that performance.

“Reaching our first-ever World Cup final in 2023 was a big landmark moment for us,” she wrote on the ICC website. The Proteas surprisingly beat England in the semi-finals.

Heather Knight’s experienced England side, which includes Nat Sciver-Brunt, Alice Capsey, Sophie Ecclestone and Lauren Bell, will be keen for revenge when they meet the Proteas on Oct 7.

Published in Dawn, October 3rd, 2024