All to play for at Potchefstroom

England's men pulled off a shock defeat against Australia in the semi-final of the Champions Trophy last September. It will take a similar upset for England's women to achieve the same in the World Cup at Sedgar's Park, Potchefstroom on Tuesday, as both sides bid for a place in the final, alongside either India or New Zealand. England are ranked second, but the undoubted favourites Australia are a class act: they have won the last 16 encounters between the two sides, and their current form is not to be sniffed at, either.

Australia remain unbeaten after the group stage, where they won all of their completed matches at a canter. And when they met England on the opening day washout they bowled themselves into a commanding position, restricting England to 169 for 7. Their coach, Steven Jenkin, says there is no doubt the Australians can now pick up where they left off.

"We are confident going into the match," Jenkin said, "based on our form and preparation to date. England is one of the improved sides around at the moment, but we are keen to test them over the full course of a match and we haven't had that opportunity in this tournament."

But Clare Connor, England's captain, was in typically bullish mood: "Our minimum expectation was to reach the semi-finals," she said, "and we know we'll have to beat Australia at some stage to win this tournament. When we played them in the opening group match, we played some good cricket with very positive intent and, in particular, our openers played their new-ball bowlers exceptionally well."

The opening pair is likely to be Laura Newton and Charlotte Edwards - if fit: she is to undergo a fitness test on her thigh. Both will need to be on their mettle to combat the pace threat of Cathryn Fitzpatrick and Emma Liddell. But England's own pace weapon, Lucy Pearson, may be missing, which would be a severe blow - like Edwards she, too, will face a late fitness test.

England will also look to Claire Taylor - who is averaging 66 - to bolster the top order and Arran Brindle, with an average of 77, to boost their run-rate from No 5. They will need something special.

Australia Women (probable) 1 Belinda Clark (capt), 2 Lisa Keightley, 3 Karen Rolton, 4 Lisa Sthalekar, 5 Mel Jones, 6 Alex Blackwell, 7 Cathryn Fitzpatrick, 8 Julia Price (wk), 9 Julie Hayes, 10 Shelley Nitschke, 11 Emma Liddell.

England Women (probable) 1 Charlotte Edwards, 2 Laura Newton, 3 Claire Taylor, 4 Clare Connor (capt), 5 Arran Brindle, 6 Jenny Gunn, 7 Isa Guha, 8 Rosalie Birch, 9 Jane Smit (wk), 10 Lucy Pearson, 11 Clare Taylor.