Enough said. It's time for the women to show their mettle when the world is finally watching. It's a global event, it's an entertainment package and it's designed for winning hearts. The women's World T20 semifinals and finals will take place just before the men's in the battle for supremacy.
The women semifinalists include two-time and reigning champions Australia and the winners of the inaugural edition England. This is the fourth edition of the women's World T20 and the West Indies have made it to the semifinals for the third time, while South Africa have done their country proud with their first semifinals berth in the tournament's history.
Australia will face the tough challenge of facing West Indies, before they can hope to defend the title. England, on the other hand, aim sweet revenge, having been the losing finalists of the 2012 World T20 to Australia, provided they get the better of South Africa in the semis.
"I can't speak for every single player that was playing then, but I think the majority will say that they never want to feel how they did that day ever again, so we've learnt from that experience," England wicketkeeper Sarah Taylor told ecb. "It's probably from the tough times that you learn the most and going into that game we'll have that in the back of our minds. We'll look to put in a good performance and fight and every game against Australia is always a tough one so we're going to give it everything."
South Africa made the surprise semis entry, having defeated New Zealand. And the Proteas skipper Mignon du Preez said they have slowly adopted the West Indies motto of 'moving in faith'.
"It's a bit like the West Indies Women's team you know," du Preez said. "We came here and saw they had a motto of 'Moving in faith.' It's something we all agree with. We didn't want to use it upfront, but we've started thinking on those lines. Maybe if we qualify for the finals."
At the start of the tournament, West Indies had hoped for a dream double - to win both the men's and the women's cup. Thursday's results will decide if they can or not.
Schedule (all matches at the Shere Bangla National Stadium in Dhaka):
Semifinals:
3 April, Thursday: Australia women vs West Indies women (2.30 pm local time, 2.00 pm IST).
4 April, Friday: England women vs South Africa women (2.30 pm local time, 2.00 pm IST).
6 April, Final: Sunday (2.30 pm local time, 2.00 pm IST).
