Finalists at the World T20 in Sri Lanka (2012) and now in Bangladesh, archrivals Australia and England play each other more often than any other women's teams - which means the rivalry will be heated up as it all comes down to the big moment. The two skippers seem absolutely confident of their teams' abilities and the fans have a lot to look forward to.
"Every game, we've got better," England skipper Charlotte Edwards said. "We know our roles pretty clearly now. It's about playing without any fear, enjoying the moment. These kinds of occasions don't come around very often. I'm certainly very excited about tomorrow, and the younger players are excited. They seem really relaxed about this trip."
Meg Lanning, the Aussie skipper is planning on a hat-trick of titles as she explains how well the two teams know each other. "We know each other inside out, so we're able to do our planning and so will England." Lanning said. "It's a really big stage, probably the biggest we've played on so it's about being able to perform on the day and execution, hopefully we can do that better than them."
Australia will look to put the recent Ashes defeat at home behind them, and winning the limited overs tournaments after the Ashes might motivate them in the final against England. When asked if sledging is trending in their rivalry, Lanning said they touch the line but never cross it.
"On the pitch it's feisty, to be honest, we both just want to beat each other, that's as it should be," Lanning said. "We talk off the field but once we get on the field it's all business as usual. There's always comments, a bit of banter and I think that's how the game should be played. Everyone knows where the line is and it's just a bit of fun and trying to get an edge however you can."
Edwards, 34, has led England in several world events, and losing the World T20 final in Sri Lanka two years ago was not one of her best of moments as captain. "Obviously we want to go one better than what we did in Sri Lanka," she said. "We're not focusing too much on revenge. It's about us putting in a really big performance to win this trophy, which would mean a lot to us as a group of players. We're two evenly matched teams, it's about who's going to deal with the bigger occasion."
And on Sunday, when the world awaits the unravelling of a new T20 champion as India and Sri Lanka take on each other in the men's final, the women would already have theirs.
Where to Watch Live Online and TV [Australia women vs England women]
Match starts at 2.30 pm local time, 2.00 pm IST, 8.30 am GMT. Viewers in India and the subcontinent can watch the game live on Star Sports 1 and 3 and online viewers can click HERE for the live action. For viewers in the UK, the match will be covered by Sky Sports and can be live streamed HERE or HERE. Viewers in South Africa can tune in to SuperSport for the live action, with the live streaming option HERE. Viewers in Australia can watch the action live on Fox Sports, while the match will be covered live in the US on ESPN. Online viewers in the US can stream the match live HERE.
Squads:
Australia Women: Meg Lanning (capt), Alex Blackwell, Alyssa Healy, Nicole Bolton, Jess Cameron, Sarah Coyte, Rene Farrell, Holly Ferling, Ellyse Perry, Julie Hunter, Jess Jonassen, Elyse Villani, Erin Osborne, Beth Mooney, Delissa Kimmince.
England Women: Charlotte Edwards (capt), Tammy Beaumont, Lydia Greenway, Rebecca Grundy, Jenny Gunn, Danielle Hazell, Amy Jones, Heather Knight, Natalie Sciver, Anya Shrubsole, Sarah Taylor, Frances Wilson, Kate Cross, Jodie Dibble, Georgia Elwiss.
