Australia will have to do it the hard way to claim a fourth consecutive Women’s T20 World Cup title in the Middle East next month.

The tournament was moved from Bangladesh to the United Arab Emirates last month, with the Aussies to arrive there in late September to begin preparations.

The Australians, looking to repeat their success from the 2018, 2020 and 2023 versions of the tournament, are in the same group as India, Sri Lanka, New Zealand and Pakistan, with captain Alyssa Healy calling it the “group of death”.

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All teams within the group are genuine contenders for the world crown, with preliminary matches set to separate the top sides ahead of the knockout stages.

During the 2020 T20 World Cup on home soil, the Aussies suffered a loss to India early in the tournament, scraping into the elimination stage following tough wins over New Zealand and Sri Lanka.

The tournament will see 10 teams split into two groups of five, with teams meeting each other once in a single round robin to decide the top two teams to progress to the semi-finals.

The top-spot finisher in each group will meet the second-place finisher in the two semi-finals, with the winners progressing to the final in Dubai.

“This is the first time in a long time we’ve had our entire contract list available for selection ahead of a World Cup and it’s resulted in a really stable and balanced squad,” chief selector Shawn Flegler said when the team was announced last month.

Healy’s team will begin their quest for an unprecedented fourth consecutive title on October 6 (AEST) when they meet an in-form Sri Lanka at Sharjah Cricket Stadium.