Follow UsNow, this is a rivalry. Australia taking on India is perhaps the biggest and most awaited clash of this year’s Women’s T20 World Cup. The fact that it is in Sharjah brings about happy memories for the Indian fans.
But there’s a lot of stake on the line for India here. They not only have to beat Australia but also have to keep an eye on the net run rate, given their massive loss against New Zealand women in their tournament opener.
Australia skipper Alyssa Healy entered the stadium on crutches, which all but means that she won’t be playing this clash.
"Alyssa Healy is unavailable for tonight’s game after suffering a foot injury on Friday night,” read Cricket Australia’s statement.
"She will continue to be assessed over the coming days, and should Australia qualify for the semi-finals, her availability will be determined in due course."
This also confirmed that Tahlia McGrath will be Australia’s skipper for the clash against India. McGrath didn't hesitate one bit, as she opted to bat first, as Australia seek the 'bat-first' advantage in Sharjah.
Playing XIs
India welcome Pooja Vastrakar back into the mix as the only change from their win over Sri Lanka. A late change for India, with Radha Yadav replacing Asha Sobhana after the latter rolled her ankle during the warm-up.
India Women (Playing XI): Shafali Verma, Smriti Mandhana, Harmanpreet Kaur (c), Jemimah Rodrigues, Richa Ghosh (wk), Deepti Sharma, Pooja Vastrakar, Arundhati Reddy, Shreyanka Patil, Radha Yadav, Renuka Thakur Singh
Grace Harris returns to the setup, possibly as an opener, replacing Healy. Darcie Brown, too, makes a return at the expense of an injured Tayla Vlaeminck
Australia Women (Playing XI): Beth Mooney (wk), Grace Harris, Ellyse Perry, Ashleigh Gardner, Phoebe Litchfield, Tahlia McGrath (c), Georgia Wareham, Annabel Sutherland, Sophie Molineux, Megan Schutt, Darcie Brown
Hear from the two captains
Harmanpreet Kaur: It's absolutely fine, we have to bowl them out for a low total and chase it down. It's our first game here, we have watched many games on TV and we have our plans. We have beaten them in the past, too, and we can again do that. One change for us - Pooja (Vastrakar) comes in for Sajana
Tahlia McGrath: We are going to bat first, put up a score on the board. This is third game here, looks like a slightly better surface than the previous ones. We have two changes: Harris is replacing Healy at the top of the order and Darcie coming in for Tayla.
How’s the pitch going to behave?
"It is 34 degrees and expected to get cooler. One side (59m) is shorter than the other (63m). The straight hit is 73m. Not much grass on the surface, but it is going to be drier. Spinners to get turn and not much bounce. Batters shouldn't be playing across the line, and left-right combination could assume significance," says WV Raman at the toss.
He believes 140 could be a target that Australia would be looking at.
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