White Ferns to open World T20

Captain Suzie Bates and her White Ferns will open the sixth Women’s World Twenty20 against India in November as they chase their first final appearance in four tournaments.

The International Cricket Council yesterday released the schedule for the 16-day, 10-team tournament in the West Indies, with matches in Guyana, St Lucia and Antigua and Barbuda.

In pool play, all in Guyana, New Zealand face India on November 9, Australia on November 13, Pakistan on November 15 and a qualifier on November 17.

The top two from each pool progress to the semifinals on November 22, with the final two days later, all at Sir Vivian Richards Stadium in Antigua.

The tournament is the first Women’s World T20 to stand alone from the men’s edition. It will also feature the decision review system (DRS) for the first time at any world T20 tournament.

New Zealand are yet to win it, after defeats to England in the 2009 decider and Australia in the 2010 final, by three runs in Barbados. That was the White Ferns’ most recent appearance in the T20 final.

In the last Women’s World T20 in India in 2016, the White Ferns topped their pool after beating Australia, then lost by six runs to eventual champions the West Indies in the semifinals.

In a statement, captain Bates said: ‘‘We always go to those tournaments thinking we can do really well. We have a really explosive lineup and in India I thought we played really good cricket but got beaten by the eventual winners Windies in the semis.

‘‘Always, the goal for the side is to get to the semifinals and then making sure we can play our best cricket in the knockout stage.’’

The women’s world rankings, which cover ODI and T20 internationals, has Australia on top of England, New Zealand and India.

The White Ferns are in England where they face the hosts and South Africa in a T20 tri-series double-header on Friday (NZT).