Online Reporter
The Women’s T20 World Cup starts today when hosts England face Sri Lanka in Birmingham, with at least one leading nation guaranteed an early exit from what promises to be an unusually open tournament.
A 12-team competition where the teams are split into two pools of six ought to be without a ‘group of death’.
But women’s cricket heavyweights Australia, India and South Africa are all in Group One and, with only the top two advancing to the semifinals, one of the trio will be heading home before a knockout phase that culminates in a Lord’s final on July 5.
A Group Two featuring defending champions New Zealand and England looks more straightforward, albeit both teams will be wary of the West Indies, tournament winners back in 2016 but rarely hitting such heights in recent times.
Meanwhile, Ireland, Scotland and the Netherlands will all fly the flag for European cricket alongside established Asian nations such as Pakistan and Sri Lanka.
The growth of white-ball competitions such as Australia’s Big Bash, England’s Hundred and India’s Women’s Premier League means top female cricketers are now exposed to top-level competition outside of major international tournaments as never before.
Australia have dominated the women’s game for decades, but for the first time since 2018 the six-time T20 champions do not have global silverware to defend.
“I think it can free us up if we harness that,” said Australia captain Sophie Molineux.
“The last couple of World Cups we’ve learnt a whole lot from that and been able to implement a few things. I feel like we’ve really evolved as a team in the last few months.”
But in appointing left-arm spinner Molineux, troubled by back problems, as skipper in succession to retired all-time great Alyssa Healy, Australia may have created a problem for themselves, with talented legspinner Alana King set to be omitted from the team.
India are the 50-over world champions and boast some of the best batters in women’s cricket in Smriti Mandhana, Yastika Bhatia and Jemimah Rodrigues, with the big-hitting Harmanpreet Kaur leading the side. – SuperSport.
