By: LakshmiPS
Factbox on the Women’s Twenty20 World Cup ahead of the seventh edition, which gets underway in Sydney on Friday (all times GMT):
* The Feb. 21-March 8 tournament is the second to take place as a standalone event after the first five editions were held concurrently with the men’s World T20.
* Australia top the world rankings and will be strong favourites to land a fifth title on home soil but they can expect a stiff challenge from former champions England and West Indies as well as India and neighbours New Zealand.
* No-balls will be checked for by the television umpire on every delivery for the first time at a major international tournament.
* Thailand will be taking part for the first time after claiming one of the two qualifying spots by beating Papua New Guinea by eight wickets in Scotland last September.
* Bangladesh clinched the other spot to qualify for their fourth T20 World Cup by beating Ireland by four wickets. The remaing eight teams qualified by virtue of their finish at the 2018 edition in the Caribbean.
VENUES (Capacity) Melbourne Cricket Ground (100,024)
Sydney Cricket Ground (48,000) WACA, Perth (24,500)
Sydney Showground (22,000)
Manuka Oval, Canberra (13,550)
Junction Oval, Melbourne (7,000)
GROUP STAGE (Feb 21-March 3)
GROUP A – Australia, India, New Zealand, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh
GROUP B – England, South Africa, West Indies, Pakistan, Thailand
SEMI-FINALS
(March 5, Sydney Cricket Ground) Winner Group B v Runner-up Group A (0400)
Winner Group A v Runner-up Group B (0800)
FINAL
(March 8, Melbourne Cricket Ground) Winner semi-final 1 v winner semi-final 2 (0700)
PREVIOUS FINALS
2018 Australia beat England by eight wickets (Antigua)
2016 West Indies beat Australia by eight wickets (Kolkata)
2014 Australia beat England by six wickets (Dhaka)
2012 Australia beat England by four runs (Colombo)
2010 Australia beat New Zealand by three runs (Barbados)
2009 England beat New Zealand by six wickets (London)
ICC WORLD RANKINGS (as of Feb 5) 1. Australia 2. England 3. New Zealand 4. India 5. West Indies 6. South Africa 7. Pakistan 8. Sri Lanka 9. Bangladesh 10. Ireland 11. Thailand
