The 2022 Women’s Cricket World Cup will get underway on Friday, with defending champions England and in-form Australia expected to be among the leading contenders.
A total of 31 matches will be contested across the 29 days of the tournament, which is being held in New Zealand, with the hosts set to get the finals underway when they take on West Indies in Mount Maunganui on Friday.
England will open their campaign against Australia in Hamilton 24 hours later, with all eight qualified teams competing in a group format where each nation will face off against each other. The top four teams at the end of the league campaign advance through to the semi-finals, while the winners of those matches will meet in the final in Christchurch on April 3.
Can Anyone Stop Australia?
Australia have won the Women’s World Cup a record six times, most recently in 2013 when they beat West Indies in the final, and Meg Lanning’s side appear to be the team to beat this year, as they are priced at 4/5 to lift the trophy.
The Aussies sit at number one in the ODI rankings, a position they consolidated after winning all three of their 50-over matches against England during this year’s successful Ashes series.
Alyssa Healy top scored for Australia during their ODI wins over England and alongside captain Lanning will form part of a strong batting line up at the World Cup, while Megan Schutt will lead a bowling attack that should be able to cope in the injury absence of Tayla Vlaeminck.
An opening match against England will provide a gauge of where Australia are at heading into the tournament, but it would certainly be a surprise if the most successful team in the tournament’s history doesn’t at least make it through to the final.
England the Best of the Rest
England are the defending world champions after beating India in the 2017 final on home soil at Lord’s, with the core of that side remaining in place, including captain Heather Knight and Tammy Beaumont, who was named player of the tournament and finished as the leading run-scorer at the World Cup five years ago.
The scars will no doubt still be there following their convincing losses to Australia during the Ashes, but England did bounce back by beating Bangladesh in a World Cup warm-up match on Monday – Nat Sciver catching the eye in that one with a knock of 108 off just 101 balls.
England have the talent and proven track record in this competition to go far, but winning the World Cup at odds of 9/2 could prove a step too far for Knight and her team.
South Africa Cannot Be Underestimated
South Africa have never contested a World Cup final, but they were beaten semi-finalists five years ago and arguably boast one of the most formidable bowling attacks at the tournament, which will be spearheaded by the impressive Shabnim Ismail and Ayabonga Khaka.
A recent series success over West Indies will also have boosted belief within the South Africa squad and the team ranked third in the ODI standings can be backed at 12/1 to deliver a first world title.
Two other teams that will harbour genuine hopes of being crowned world champions are New Zealand and India.
New Zealand are the only nation other than England and Australia to have previously won the Women’s World Cup – in 2000, the last time they hosted – and with home advantage again on their side this year, they can be backed at 5/1 to go all the way and lift the trophy.
India are priced at 7/1 to go one better than 2017 when they reached the final, and winning the tournament would possibly provide experienced duo Mithali Raj and Jhulan Goswami with the perfect way to bow out from the international game.
The remaining three teams at the tournament, West Indies, Pakistan and Bangladesh, are not expected to challenge for the title – the latter will be the only debutants featuring at the finals, with their first game coming against South Africa on Saturday.
*All odds correct at time of writing
