England Women start defence against Sri Lanka

England will begin the defence of their Women's World Cup title against Sri Lanka on February 2 at the Wankhede Stadium. The hosts, India, will play on the opening day of the tournament against West Indies at the same venue and the final will be held at the Cricket Club of India ground on February 17.

The eight teams that have qualified have been split into two groups of four and the initial stage of the tournament will see one team eliminated from each group with the remaining sides progressing to the Super Six phase. As with the men's World Twenty20, the teams will retain their seedings from the group stage regardless of the position they finish - so, for example, if England finish third in their group they will still progress as A1.

England, Australia, New Zealand and India qualified for the tournament after finishing as the top four in the 2009 competition and will be joined in Mumbai by West Indies, Sri Lanka, Pakistan and South Africa. West Indies are one of the rapidly improving sides in the women's game and reached the semi-finals of the recent World Twenty20 in Sri Lanka.

A total of 25 matches will be played across five venues in Mumbai - Wankhede Stadium, Bandra Kurla Complex (BKC), Cricket Club of India (CCI), Middle Income Group Club Ground (MIG) and DY Patil Stadium. Ten of the matches will be broadcast live.

Alan Isaac, the ICC president, said: "This will be the third time that India has staged the Women's World Cup but this could be by far the most significant. I feel that we are on the verge of a massive sea change in the women's game and where better for that to take place than in the great city of Mumbai."

Last month the World Cup trophy was detained at Mumbai airport because officials said it had not been brought into India under the correct procedure.

For a full fixture list click here