Preview: Women's WT20 starts, India open campaign on Thursday

Away from the hype surrounding the men's tournament, the Women's World Twenty20 will start in Galle on Wednesday 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 event's 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 women's 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 men's 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 Women's World Cup Qualifier 2011 in Dhaka last year.

The top two teams from each group will qualify for thesemi-finals, which will be played on the same day and at the same venue as the men's semi-finals in Colombo on October 4 and 5 with the final to be played ahead of the men's final at R Premadasa Stadium on October 7.

The semi-finalists from this event will qualify for the ICC Women's 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 women's matches in Galle is free of charge.

"We're definitely looking forward to the home support.It's 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 men's 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 it's in their home ground so they're 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 don't have anything to lose and we can go out there and have some fun," she said.

New Zealand's captain Suzie Bates, who belted six sixes and 19 fours in a swashbuckling 105-ball 168 against Pakistan in the ICC Women's 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.

"We're here to go all the way," she said.

"The team is confident ahead of the tournament and the newly launched Reliance ICC Women's T20I Player Rankings shows the team's 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."

West Indies' captain Merissa Aguilleira said her side was also feeling confident ahead of the tournament, after winning the final match in the five-match series against England.

"Coming into here and winning that last game was a big plus for us. We need to carry on with the momentum as we have nothing to lose."

With three players in the top 20 batters of the RelianceICC Women's T20I Player Rankings, including 2011's ICC Women's Cricketer of the Year Stafanie Taylor, Aguilleira hinted at some aggressive batting from her team.

"From what I can see, the ball really comes onto the bat pretty well so we'll definitely be looking to hit some big scores," she warned.

Australia's captain Jodie Fields said her side was ready to defend the title it won in Barbados in 2010.

"Being the defending champions definitely brings some pressure but also adds to our drive and focus as we want to bring the title home again," she said.

The 28-year-old admitted playing against India would be tough.

"We have trained well in the past few days and had a good hit out against the West Indies (in the warm-up match) which has set us up well for our first match against India. We know what India is like, it is always a formidable opponent and we can never take lightly."

"India will be used to these (types of) wickets and we are going to have to be on our game from the start if we want to be competitive against them."