The Spin | Women’s T20 World Cup: team-by-team guide to the tournament

9 hours ago 4

Group A

Australia

Coach Shelley Nitschke Captain Sophie Molineux WT20WC best: Winners 2010, 2012, 2014, 2018, 2020, 2023
Six-time champions Australia may still be the bookies’ favourites, but for the first time it’s possible to imagine a scenario where they don’t make the semi-finals - Group A is by far the tougher. By choosing left-arm spinner Molineux as their new captain in January, they’ve arguably backed themselves into a selection corner, with the leg-spinner Alana King likely to be left out of the XI despite being their most effective bowler on the recent tour of the West Indies.

Molineux’s own match fitness is also far from a sure thing: she has ongoing back issues, her bowling capacity may well be limited, and if she was not captain then there is no way she would be selected in this team as a pure batter. One is rather reminded of a remark from W1A’s marketing guru Siobhan Sharpe: “We are where we are, and that’s never a good place to be.”

Key player Ash Gardner She was reportedly gutted not to have been made captain but, after a relatively dry spell, the all-rounder needs to accept it, move on and step up with the bat.

Bangladesh

Coach Sarwar Imran Captain Nigar Sultana Joty WT20WC best Group stages 2014, 2016, 2018, 2020, 2023, 2024
This World Cup will be unfamiliar territory for Bangladesh, literally: they have never previously toured England. “It will be very challenging for us,” Joty admitted at the captains’ press conference on Sunday. “The wickets and the conditions are totally different from Asia.” They have been acclimatising by playing a tri-series in Edinburgh against Scotland and the Netherlands but the results - two wins, two losses - were not particularly encouraging.

Key player Marufa Akter The 21-year-old had England in tatters in October’s 50-over World Cup with her hooping inswing, and will be Bangladesh’s key strike bowler in this format too.

India

Coach Amol Muzumdar Captain Harmanpreet Kaur WT20WC best Runners-up 2020
India are a tough team to make predictions about. Their stated aim is to emulate the achievement of Meg Lanning’s Australia and become a team who dominate world cricket for a generation. They made a good start on that process in Navi Mumbai last November when they romped home in the 50-over World Cup final. Since then they have visited Australia and handed them a T20 series defeat, followed that up by losing 4-1 to South Africa, and darted between the sublime and the ridiculous against England, eventually losing 2-1.

The rollercoaster nature of that series was epitomised by the fortunes of Yastika Bhatia, who made a match-winning half-century on her return to the side after a two-year injury-enforced absence, only to be controversially retired out two days later at Bristol. Watch out for pace bowler Nandani Sharma, who made her international debut last month against England on the back of a WPL hat-trick and has looked the goods.

Key player Harmanpreet Kaur “You think I should stop?” Harmanpreet said, disbelievingly, when one reporter asked her on Sunday if, at 37 years old, she had any plans to make this her last World Cup. Her recent T20 form has been better than ever, so the answer to the question about thoughts of retirement was a big fat no.

Netherlands

Coach Neil MacRae Captain Babette de Leede WT20WC best N/A
It has been a remarkable few months for the Dutch team, who only gained T20I status in 2018 but stormed through the qualifiers in January to book their place in their first 20-over World Cup. With the exception of Sterre Kalis, the Netherlands team consists entirely of part-time cricketers; the captain Babette De Leede has a master’s degree in econometrics, while the leg-spinner Caroline de Lange quit her job as a doctor in order to participate in this tournament. They will be targeting wins against Bangladesh and Pakistan - the top eight finishers will qualify automatically for the next T20 World Cup.

Key player Sterre Kalis The top-order batter is into her sixth year as a pro for Yorkshire (previously Northern Diamonds) and will be a great source of intel on English pitches.

Pakistan

Coach Wahab Riaz Captain Fatima Sana WT20WC best Group stages
After a poor track record in recent global tournaments, Pakistan are favouring change over continuity. Five members of their squad - Eyman Fatima, Natalia Pervaiz, Rameen Shamim, Saira Jabeen and Tasmia Rubab - are playing in their first T20 World Cup. They have also rejigged their coaching staff, removing Mohammad Wasim from post following their winless 50-over World Cup last October. Vital to their hopes of success will be captain Fatima Sana, who is fresh from smashing the fastest 50 in women’s T20Is last month against Zimbabwe, taking just 15 balls to bring up the milestone.

Key player Sadia Iqbal The veteran left-arm spinner is ranked No 2 in the world and will be hoping to add to her impressive collection of scalps.

South Africa

Coach Mandla Mashimbyi Captain Laura Wolvaardt WT20WC best Finalists 2023, 2024
Despite reaching the last three major World Cup finals – 2023 and 2024 in T20Is, 2025 in ODIs – South Africa have gone retro for this edition, turning back to Dane van Niekerk and Shabnim Ismail, who both retired from internationals in 2023. Ismail holds the record for the fastest ball ever bowled in women’s international cricket - 128kmph v West Indies in 2016 - while van Niekerk was MVP and the winning captain in the inaugural edition of the Women’s Hundred, so knows more than most about how to achieve success in England. But could throwing the pair back in also risk disrupting the dynamics of a settled, successful squad? Only time will tell.

Key player Laura Wolvaardt The skipper is in the best form of her career, with scores of 51, 54, 115, 18 and 92 not out in her last five T20I innings.

Group B

England

Coach Charlotte Edwards Captain Nat Sciver-Brunt WT20WC best Winners 2009
There is no doubt that England are a much-improved team, 18 months on from their Ashes disaster. Their fielding is sharp, fitness levels have improved, Alice Capsey has matured as a batter, and Charlie Dean has proved herself as a captain-in-waiting and will be a great support to Nat Sciver-Brunt. England’s confidence levels will be sky-high after a successful run-chase of 181 against India to seal a series win at Taunton a week ago.

But Sophia Dunkley’s form at the top of the order is a concern. So is the fact that - aside from Lauren Bell and Linsey Smith - they are over-reliant on bits-and-pieces bowlers who could leak runs at the death, not helped by the fact that Sciver-Brunt has finally admitted that she will not be bowling in this tournament due to her recent calf injury. Fortunately England have found themselves in the easier group, and the carrot of a final at Lord’s in front of a home crowd will surely be a powerful motivator.

Key player Linsey Smith The left-arm spinner is crucial to England’s powerplay bowling, and has been so successful of late that she was recently ranked as the No 1 T20 bowler in the world.

Ireland

Coach Lloyd Tennant Captain Gaby Lewis WT20WC best Group stages 2014, 2016, 2018, 2023
After failing to qualify for the 2024 edition, Ireland are determined to put on a show this time. “It makes you cherish the experience a lot more,” captain Gaby Lewis told the media on Sunday. They will miss former skipper Laura Delany, who is injured, but will be equally relieved that Lewis herself is fit after missing the recent tri-series against West Indies and Pakistan in Dublin with a leg injury.

Key player Orla Prendergast The powerful, seam-bowling all-rounder knows English conditions well, having represented The Blaze for the last three seasons.

New Zealand

Coach Ben Sawyer Captain Melie Kerr WT20WC best Winners 2024
Interestingly, New Zealand have been deliberately downplaying their status as reigning champions. “That was a fair while ago with some pretty different players,” coach Ben Sawyer said in May. Instead, much of the focus has been around making sure that the iconic trio of Sophie Devine, Suzie Bates and Lea Tahuhu have a final tournament to remember; all three have announced that this will be their last World Cup.

They have yet to decide on their opening partnership - will it be veteran Bates or Georgia Plimmer who joins Izzy Gaze up top? - but are well-stocked in the bowling department, with the 24-year-old off-spinner Nensi Patel impressing against England last month.

Key player Melie Kerr She has looked out of sorts recently with scores of 8, 0 and 5 against England in May, but 2024’s Player of the Tournament will be crucial to New Zealand’s hopes of retaining their title.

Scotland

Coach Craig Wallace Captain Kathryn Bryce WT20WC best Group stages 2024
Scotland’s progress has been rapid in recent years, thanks to the fact that their players can now play cricket professionally in England. Eight of the World Cup squad are doing just that, including the captain Kathryn Bryce, her sister Sarah, and Abtaha Maqsood, the leg-spinner, who completed three years of dental school before quitting to pursue cricket full-time. Expect stands packed with vocal Scottish fans, in what is effectively a home World Cup.

Key player Kirstie Gordon Part of the England team that reached the final in 2018, Gordon chose to return to Scotland last year and will be especially fired up at the prospect of bowling to her old teammates come 20 June at Headingley.

Sri Lanka

Coach Jamie Siddons Captain Chamari Athapaththu WT20WC best Group stages
For so long a one-woman team, Sri Lanka are showing signs of readiness for the day when Chamari Athapaththu finally hangs up her boots. In Sunday’s press conference, Athapaththu singled out two players for praise: the 20-year-old opener Vishmi Gunaratne, who has successfully fought her way back from a knee injury, and the 25-year-old spin bowler Kavisha Dilhari, who is also a decent middle-order batter. They face England in the tournament opener at Edgbaston on 12 June and the hosts underestimate them at their peril: two years ago they embarrassed England by handing them a T20 series defeat on home soil.

Key player Chamari Athapaththu Fresh off the plane, Athapaththu showed why she is one of the most feared batters in global cricket at the weekend by smashing 94 from 58 balls in Sri Lanka’s warm-up against Pakistan.

West Indies

Coach Shane Deitz Captain Hayley Matthews WT20WC best Winners 2016
It is more than a decade since the magical night at Eden Gardens when West Indies triumphed in the final of this tournament - and it feels it. They missed out on qualifying for the 50-over World Cup last October, which coach Shane Deitz did his best to turn into a positive, saying he would use the time to work intensively with his players on skills development. T20 cricket is a better fit for them, given the presence of power-hitter Deandra Dottin, but the rest of the line-up needs to find some consistency if they are to have any hopes of progressing beyond the group stages.

Key player Hayley Matthews When Matthews missed the last two matches of West Indies’ tour of England last summer with a shoulder injury, her team looked completely out of their depth.