The last time England played Sri Lanka in a major tournament opener, at the 2013 World Cup, they lost in embarrassing fashion to the tournament’s bottom-ranked team. Five years on, as they gear up for their opening game against the same opposition in St Lucia on Saturday, this time in a World T20, they will be hoping to avoid a similar fate.

This time around, the personnel look rather different. Of England’s 15-strong squad, eight did not play in the last World T20 in 2016, and the batter Sophia Dunkley and left-arm spinners Kirstie Gordon and Linsey Smith have never worn an England shirt.

In particular, England will feel the loss of their world-class wicketkeeper Sarah Taylor, who is staying at home in an effort to manage her anxiety condition and Katherine Brunt, the all-rounder who has been ruled out the tournament after scans confirmed a flare-up of her long-standing back problem would not allow her to participate.

“It’s a big loss,” said the England captain, Heather Knight. “But we knew it was unlikely [Brunt] would play. It was a bit of a risk to bring her out and we were prepared for her not to be fit. We were hopeful we could get her in at 70% because she makes us a better team but unfortunately it wasn’t to be.”

“We’re a very different team to the last 20-over World Cup in 2016,” Knight added. “In T20 we’ve become a lot more consistent. We’ve played some really exciting cricket recently and chased down 180 a few times. Now it’s about trying to do it on the world stage.”

Brunt’s role as a bowling all-rounder who has batted as high as No 4 for England in T20s this year makes a like-for-like replacement difficult. She will be replaced by the Middlesex batter Fran Wilson, who is unlikely to arrive in time for the opening match. Moreover, Taylor’s reserve, Amy Jones, may be almost equally as deft but has yet to prove herself with the bat in the shortest form, with a highest score of 30 to her name.

Katherine Brunt has been ruled out of the tournament after a flare-up of a long-term back problem. Photograph: Jan Kruger/IDI via Getty Images

England are the 50-over champions and ranked third in T20, so go into the tournament as strong contenders but much will hang on the performance of their batters. In June, against South Africa at Taunton, the world record total in women’s T20s was broken twice in the same day: women’s T20 cricket is rapidly becoming a batter’s game. England will take heart from that performance, in which they reached 250 for three, thanks to a 47-ball century from Tammy Beaumont. Her opening partner Danni Wyatt has also flourished of late, having hit two T20 centuries in the past 12 months and the Wisden cricketer of the year, Nat Sciver, has also been in fine form, leading Surrey Stars to victory in the Kia Super League.

Given Brunt’s absence Sciver, the all-rounder who took 10 wickets in the KSL with her medium pace, is also likely to play an important role with the ball in a squad dominated by spinners. The loss of Brunt may open the way for either Gordon or Smith to make their debut, with the coach Mark Robinson hoping his surfeit of left-arm spinners – the 19-year-old Sophie Ecclestone makes up the trio – will make up for any failings in the fast-bowling department.

“We’ve got a bit of a union going on,” Ecclestone said. “We help each other out in training with field settings and general left-arm spinner chat.”

England are somewhat fortunate in that they have been drawn in the relatively easy Group A, alongside West Indies, South Africa, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh. Australia, New Zealand and India (plus Pakistan and Ireland) make up Group B. England’s biggest group challenge looks to be against the defending champions, West Indies, who dismissed them for 116 in their warm-up, winning by five wickets.

Should England top the group they are likely to face New Zealand in the semi-final. While the Kiwis sit above them in the rankings, England’s utter dominance over them in the summer, culminating in a seven-wicket win in the Tri-series final, should leave them confident of victory. A bigger concern will be ensuring they avoid a semi-final against Australia and thus any chance of a repeat of their 2016 encounter in India, whereby they collapsed horribly and lost by five runs.

Quick Guide Women's World Twenty20 Show The details Format Round robin within groups; top two in each group qualify for semi-finals Group A Bangladesh, England, Sri Lanka, South Africa, West Indies (hosts and holders) Group B Australia, India, Ireland, New Zealand, Pakistan Venues Guyana National Stadium, Darren Sammy Cricket Ground (St Lucia), Sir Vivian Richards Stadium (Antigua) Most World T20 wins Australia (3), England (1), West Indies (1)

Odds Australia 11-8, England 11-4, NZ 6-1, Windies 8-1, India 8-1 The fixtures (8pm GMT unless stated) Friday 9 Nov NZ v India (3pm GMT), Australia v Pakistan (8pm)

10 Nov West Indies v Bangladesh (12am), England v Sri Lanka (8pm)

11 Nov India v Pakistan (3pm), Australia v Ireland (8pm)

12 Nov England v Bangladesh (8pm); 13 Nov Sri Lanka v South Africa (12am), Pakistan v Ireland (8pm); 14 Nov Australia v NZ (12am),

Sri Lanka v Bangladesh (8pm); 15 Nov West Indies v South Africa (12am), India v Ireland (3pm), NZ v Pakistan (8pm); 16 Nov England v South Africa (8pm); 17 Nov West Indies v Sri Lanka (12am), India v Australia (3pm), NZ v Ireland (8pm); 18 Nov West Indies v England (8pm); 19 Nov S Africa v Bangladesh (12am). 22 Nov First semi-final: A1 v B2 (8pm)

23 Nov Second semi-final: A2 v B1 (12am)

25 Nov The final (12am) Photograph: Randy Brooks-IDI/ICC

As three-times champions and the No 1 ranked side, Australia pose a formidable threat. With a batting lineup so long the Guardian’s top-rated female cricketer of 2018, Ellyse Perry, features only at No 7, it is easy to see why they are the favourites. Their bowling unit is also threatening, with the young left-arm spinner Sophie Molineux, who finished as leading wicket-taker in their whitewash of Pakistan last month, looking to make her name during the tournament.

All 23 matches will be broadcast live, with the decision review system in use for the first time at a T20 World Cup. The standalone tournament, the first of its kind, should be another step forward for the women’s game.