Womens T20 World Cup: India open campaign on 27th

But India’s campaign will kick off a day later when they take on Australia on Thursday.The tournament will kicks off with hosts Sri Lanka taking on South Africa in the opening match at Galle International Cricket Stadium.This Group B fixture will be followed by what is expected to be a cracker of a match between the previous events losing finalist New Zealand and pre-tournament favourite the West Indies. The first match starts at 0930 while the second match begins at 1330 (local time).Eight womens teams will be competing in the tournament and they have been split into two groups.Group A includes defending champion Australia, 2009 winner England, and traditional rivals India and Pakistan, who go head to head a day after the equivalent mens Super Eight stage fixture on 1 October at 0930.Group B comprises home team Sri Lanka as well as two-time runner-up New Zealand, South Africa, and the West Indies, the team that won the ICC Womens World Cup Qualifier 2011 in Dhaka last year.The top two teams from each group will qualify for the semi-finals, which will be played on the same day and at the same venue as the mens semi-finals in Colombo on October 4 and 5 with the final to be played ahead of the mens final at R Premadasa Stadium on October 7.The semi-finalists from this event will qualify for the ICC Womens World Twenty20 Bangladesh 2014. These four sides will be joined by the winners of the two play-off matches between the bottom four teams, which will be played at NCC and Moors Cricket Ground, respectively, in Colombo on Wednesday 3 October.With Bangladesh also qualifying for the 2014 event as the host country, the final place in the eight-team event will be decided in qualifying tournament to be played next year.The entry to womens matches in Galle is free of charge.Were definitely looking forward to the home support. Its exciting to have a world event like the ICC World Twenty20 in your home country. We expect that people will come out and support us like they have backed the mens team, Sri Lanka captain Shashikala Siriwardene said.South Africa captain Mignon du Preez believed that facing the host side in the opening match will be tricky.It will definitely be challenging, but for them its in their home ground so theyre under a lot more pressure because they have to perform in front of their home audience. But coming here, we are the underdogs, so we dont have anything to lose and we can go out there and have some fun, she said.New Zealands captain Suzie Bates, who belted six sixes and 19 fours in a swashbuckling 105-ball 168 against Pakistan in the ICC Womens World Cup 2009 in Sydney, admitted that it was crucial that her team arrived early to get accustomed to the conditions and prepare for the tournament.Were here to go all the way, she said.The team is confident ahead of the tournament and the newly launched Reliance ICC Womens T20I Player Rankings shows the teams strength in the shortest format of the game with three players inside in the top 20 batters and another two listed in the top 20 bowlers