DHAKA: England stand in the way of Australia’s bid for a hat-trick of women’s World Twenty20 titles in Sunday’s final here at the Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium.

The match is a repeat of the 2012 final in Colombo when Australia claimed a narrow victory, England falling just short in pursuit of a target of 143 on that occasion.

The sides have seen plenty of each other since with England coming out on top in Ashes series home and away, although Australia won the two most recent T20 Internationals in Melbourne and Sydney at the turn of the year.

Both teams recovered from early defeats in the group stage in Bangladesh; Australia going down to New Zealand in the tournament opener and England dropping their match against West Indies.

Charlotte Edwards, who skippered England to victory at the inaugural World Twenty20 on home soil in 2009, feels her team is peaking at the right time.

“I think we’ve got better every game and are performing well as a group," said the England captain. “We know our roles and it’s about coming out in the final, playing without any fear and enjoying the moment.

“These occasions don’t come around very often. I’m excited as are the younger players in our side who haven’t played in a World Cup final before.

“It’s a great place to be and everyone has seemed very relaxed throughout that trip. Hopefully tomorrow it will be the same.”

England’s Anya Shrubsole is the leading wicket taker in the tournament with 12 in five matches, including two in the first two overs of the semi-final win over South Africa.

The seamer has been well supported by Natalie Sciver (eight wickets) and one of the key match-ups will be England’s bowlers against Australia skipper Meg Lanning, who is averaging 42 at a strike-rate above 160 from her position at No 3 in the order.England have moved Heather Knight up to No 3 behind openers Edwards and Sarah Taylor for the last two games, a tactic that will continue for the final.

Australia do have bragging rights when it comes to the last time they faced England in this competition, defeating them by four runs thanks to Jess Cameron’s 45 and Jess Jonassen’s 3-25.

This will be the Australia third successive World T20 final, and captain Meg Lanning hopes big game experience will give her team the edge on Sunday.

“We can win this cup and that’s what we’ve been focused on the whole way through,” Lanning said.

“We’ve tried not to look back too often because I think you’ve got to keep moving forward. We’ve got the experience and hopefully that’s going to help us in the final.”

Teams (from): AUSTRALIA: Meg Lanning (captain), Alyssa Healy, Elyse Villani, Ellyse Perry, Jess Cameron, Alex Blackwell, Jess Jonassen, Erin Osborne, Sarah Coyte, Rene Farrell, Holly Ferling, Nicole Bolton, Delissa Kimmince, Beth Mooney, Julie Hunter.

ENGLAND: Charlotte Edwards (captain), Sarah Taylor, Heather Knight, Lydia Greenway, Natalie Sciver, Amy Jones, Tammy Beaumont, Jenny Gunn, Danielle Hazell, Anya Shrubsole, Rebecca Grundy, Jodie Dibble, Georgia Elwiss, Fran Wilson.

Umpires: Aleem Dar (Pakistan) and Marais Erasmus (South Africa).

TV umpire: Billy Bowden (New Zealand).

Reserve umpire: Sundaram Ravi (India).

Match referee: Ranjan Madugalle (Sri Lanka).

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