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England Women set for T20 opener
10 June 2009, 12:07 pm



England Women set for T20 opener

Women's World Twenty20 Group B: England v IndiaVenue: Taunton Date: Thursday, 11 June Start: 1400 BSTCoverage: Scorecard and live text commentary updates on the BBC website



Edwards hopes to add this trophy to the 50-over World Cup won this year

England Women take on India on the opening day of the inaugural Twenty20 World Cup confident home advantage will help them build on recent success.Charlotte Edwards's team are current 50-over World Champions and one of the pre-tournament favourites.

"I'd rather be in our position than not," said Edwards. "It's new territory but we're not feeling the pressure."

The tournament comprises two groups of four with the top two qualifying for the semi-final stage.

"We are excited and really looking forward to it," added Edwards. "We have prepared really well and just want to get under way."

All the group games are being played at Taunton, with one semi-final at The Oval and the other at Trent Bridge. The final takes place at Lord's on 21 June.



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The fixture between England and India starts at 1400 BST. They are in Group B along with Pakistan and Sri Lanka.

South Africa play West Indies in the opening match of the tournament earlier on Thursday, while Australia and New Zealand are the other two teams in Group A.

"It will be a tough group," said the England captain. "We cannot take anything for granted. We have got to be at our best in every single game"

England fell four runs short of Australia in their final World Twenty20 warm-up game.

Thursday's opponents India have played just two Twenty20 games and have prepared for the tournament by taking on boys teams in Bangalore.

But coach Sudha Shah is confident India will perform strongly.

"We have one of the best bowling attacks. Gouher Sultana has been bowling well in her first few series and Priyanka Roy was our highest wicket-taker in the World Cup," said the coach.

But India skipper Jhulan Goswami believes Australia and New Zealand represent a major threat.

"They are taller and fitter than us", Goswami said. "But power is not everything, you need to play with your mind.

"If you're mentally strong you can beat them and we are confident about ourselves."



Source: BBC Sport | Cricket | World Edition