Cricket-Australia look to rebound from 2017 heartbreak at Women's World Cup

(Reuters) - Cricket powerhouse Australia will bid to win a seventh Women's World Cup at the global tournament in New Zealand after suffering a shock loss at the 2017 semi-finals.

Australia's women have barely put a foot wrong since India knocked them out of the last four in 2017, beating world champions England at the recent Ashes and thrashing the Indians for the T20 World Cup title two years ago on home soil.

But the disappointment of their failed title defence in the 50-overs tournament in England five years ago still lingers as players ready for the tournament starting Friday.

"We know the heartbreak of not putting every single bit of effort into everything you do and the consequences of that," Australia coach Matthew Mott said from the team's camp in Christchurch.

"We have used (2017) a lot (as motivation) but I don’t think we need to use it for this tournament.

"We've been really consistent since that tournament but this is just another opportunity for the team to take it to another level."

Australia kick off against four-times champions England in Hamilton on Saturday, looking to make an immediate statement against their traditional rivals.

England will again be led by 2017 World Cup-winning skipper Heather Knight and boast a raft of players who shared in that success, including player of the tournament Tammy Beaumont.

Beaumont has amassed more than 1,000 ODI runs since 2019, averaging 48.13 with the bat, and will be key to England's chances in New Zealand.

England were routed by Australia 3-0 in the deciding ODI leg of the multi-format Ashes but Knight said they had moved on from the disappointment.

"Australia are going to go in as favourites, but (2017) should give us a lot of experience of what it takes to be