Australia are hot favourites for their seventh title at the women's T20 World Cup starting Thursday in their first tournament appearance since the retirement of four-time tournament-winning captain Meg Lanning.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
New skipper Alyssa Healy faces a challenge in the United Arab Emirates, leading a team that has only failed twice to win the 20-over trophy since the competition was first staged in 2009.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
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".<\/p>\r\n\r\n
"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 International Cricket Council's website.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
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.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
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.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
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.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
"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.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
"This is the best team we are going for a T20 World Cup with."<\/p>\r\n\r\n
India finished runners-up in 2020 and lost in the semi-finals in 2018 and 2023.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
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.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
"The T20 World Cup's been an important vehicle in the development and growth of the women's game," Devine said.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
Sri Lanka and Pakistan round out the first group while Bangladesh, England, Scotland, South Africa and the West Indies make up the second.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
- 'Breaking the barriers' -<\/p>\r\n\r\n
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.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
"Reaching our first-ever World Cup final in 2023 was a big landmark moment for us," she wrote on the ICC website.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
The Proteas surprisingly beat England in the semi-finals.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
"It was a big 'breaking the barriers and pushing the boundaries' moment for the team.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
"Before that, we'd made the semi-finals on a number of occasions, so to be able to go that one step further was very important for us as a group.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
"Now we'd like to go that one step further and lift the trophy."<\/p>\r\n\r\n
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 October 7.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
Bangladesh face Scotland at Sharjah in the opening match of the tournament, where the prize money is for the first time equal to the men's edition with a $2.34 million purse for the winners of the October 20 final.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
That is a 134 percent increase on the $1 million awarded to the Australians when they clinched the title in South Africa last year.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
The ICC said the move was intended "to prioritise the women's game and accelerate its growth".<\/p>\r\n\r\n