The defending champions, who won the trophy in the West Indies in 2008 after beating England by eight wickets in the final, open the tournament in Sydney on Friday.

Their opposition for the tournament's curtain-raiser will be India, who they recently beat in the final of a tri-series tournament played on home soil.

Also in their group are New Zealand, who boast the highest run scorer in the event's history in batter Suzie Bates.

Group A is completed by Sri Lanka, who caused a big surprise in the tournament's warm-up matches and Bangladesh, who have never played a T20 international against either Australia or New Zealand.

Group B features England, runners-up to Australia at the last Women's World Twenty20, and ranked second in the world in the T20 format of the game.

Alongside them are Pakistan, who will be competing in their seventh World T20 tournament and South Africa, a side described as 'a big threat' but who are also said to be coming into this event with 'low expectations.'

West Indies, winners in 2016 and ranked five in the world are also part of this group which is completed by underdogs Thailand, World Cup debutants, who only made their international debut in the summer of 2007.

Matches will be played in various locations across Australia - Sydney, Perth, Canberra and  Melbourne with double headers of matches taking place on all bar three days of competition.

After the group phase, the tournament will go straight to the semifinal stage, before the final is played at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on Sunday March 8.

This match is taking place on International Women's Day and will include performances from world famous pop singer Katy Perry before and after the match itself.

Organisers are hoping the final will set a new world record for the attendance at a women's sporting event - when 90,185 people watched the final of the 1999 FIFA Women's World Cup in California in the United States.