NEW ZEALAND

Tournaments: 6 Result in 2018: First round Best finish: Runners-up (2009, ’10) ICC ranking: 3rd

Form line: The White Ferns haven’t seen much T20 action since the last Worlds, with just the one home series against India last February, a three-game sweep to the hosts but close in every contest. A frustrating loss in the Rose Bowl ODIs to Australia prompted changes on the coaching side, with former Black Caps’ assistant Bob Carter taking over.

What previous tournaments tell us: Finalists in the first two World T20s, New Zealand has failed to progress out of group in two of the last three events. In 2016, they went unbeaten in the group stage, including a win over the Aussies, only to fall to a rampaging West Indies in the semi-final in Mumbai.

Player to watch: Perhaps the form player of the past WBBL season, Sophie Devine was a highlight reel for the Adelaide Strikers, punctuated by her five straight sixes off the last five balls against the Melbourne Stars. The ICC’s sixth-ranked batter and no.2 all-rounder joins a host of top talents in the NZ line-up, including top-order gun Suzi Bates, pace spearhead Lea Teahuhu, spinner Leigh Kasperek and rising star Amelia Kerr.

Expectations: There’s a view within the NZ ranks that the White Ferns have not been able to beat the big teams, or progress at the major tournaments, consistently enough, which was a large part of the rationale behind the change in coaches. Even with the absence of skipper Amy Satterthwaite as she expects her first child, the White Ferns have the material and experience of the conditions – thanks to the WBBL – to believe they can get out of the first round.