They’re aiming for a third straight women’s Twenty20 World Cup but Australia will have to overcome history to beat England in Sunday’s final.

While Australia claimed victory over England in the 2012 T20 World Cup final, historically it’s their rivals who hold the edge between the two nations.

In 20 T20 clashes between the two countries England have 12 wins including four of the past six encounters.

The English will also head into the final full of confidence.

They cruised past a disappointing South Africa by nine wickets in Saturday’s semi-final, claiming five run-outs in their opponents’ innings.

That comfortable win was in stark contrast to Australia’s passage to the final.

The Southern Stars narrowly beat a determined West Indies by just eight runs in a nailbiting encounter on Friday.

Australia captain Meg Lanning said neither team should hold any surprises for the other.

“We’ve played England a lot over the last year or so,” Australian captain Meg Lanning told AAP.

“We certainly know each other very well. It’ll be a close battle.”

England boast the tournament’s leading wicket-taker in Anya Shrubsole, who has claimed 12 scalps in their five matches.

Natalie Scriver is not far behind, with eight wickets so far in the tournament.

How Lanning and Australia’s other batters handle those two could go a long way to determining the result.

But Lanning is also hoping Australia’s recent experience of winning big finals will prove crucial.

“We can win this cup and that’s what we’ve been focused on the whole way through,” Lanning said.

“We’ve tried not to look back too often because I think you’ve got to keep moving forward.

“We’ve got the experience and hopefully that’s going to help us in the final.”

AAP