England to face South Africa in Women's T20 World Cup opener

England will face South Africa in the opening match of the ICC Women's Twenty20 World Cup to be held in Bangladesh later this year, the International Cricket Council announced on Sunday.

The event will run from 3 to 20 October in the capital Dhaka and the northeastern city of Sylhet, with warm-up matches starting on 27 September.

Hosts Bangladesh and the top six teams from the previous edition in South Africa – Australia, England, New Zealand, South Africa and the West Indies -– qualified automatically for the tournament, with Pakistan joining them as the next best-ranked team.

Ireland, the UAE, Sri Lanka and Scotland are in contention for the remaining two places, with the semifinals of the qualifying tournament being held in the UAE.

Six-time winners and current world No 1 Australia will play in group A alongside India, New Zealand, Pakistan and a team from Qualifier 1.

Neighbours and rivals India and Pakistan will face off on 6 October.

Group B will feature South Africa, Bangladesh, England, West Indies, and a team from Qualifier 2.

"Over the last six to seven years we have seen women's cricket grow exponentially," ICC chief executive officer Geoff Allardice said at the announcement of the fixture list and trophy unveiling in Dhaka.

"This is going to be a very special tournament," he added.

It will be the ninth edition of the tournament, with Bangladesh previously hosting in 2014.