India take on Oz in tri-series opener
MUMBAI: Indian women’s cricket team will have its back to the wall when it takes on Australian women in the opening match of the T20 tri-series also featuring England, at the Brabourne Stadium here on Thursday.
Whitewashed by Australia in the preceding three-match ODI series, the Harmanpreet Kaurled India will have to play out of their skin to beat Meg Lanning and Co., who have not lost a game since arriving in India a fortnight ago. India were outplayed in all departments in the ODI series and need players to raise the level. Fielding and batting in particular are areas where the team needs drastic improvement going into the T20s.
India skipper Harmanpreet Kaur admitted in the pre-match press conference on Wednesday that leaking extra runs and dropping catches cost the team dear in the ODIS and they can’t afford to slip up in the series.
In batting, barring Smriti Mandhana, who was the leading run-getter for the team in the ODIS with an aggregate of 131 runs at an average of 43.66, and local girl Jemimah Rodrigues, who impressed with her quickfire 42 while opening the innings in the third match, none of the other players were consistent.
For the team to turn its fortunes around, experienced players like Mithali Raj, Veda Krishnamurthy and Harmanpreet will have to perform better in the T20s. In bowling though, the hosts would be boosted by the return of experienced pacer Jhulan Goswami following injury. She is likely to form a new ball pair with Shikha Pandey. In Deepti Sharma and leggie Poonam Yadav, the home side has quality spinners, but containing the in-form Australian batswomen will be a big challenge.
Australia will look to continue their winning run. Wicketkeeper Alyssa Healy poses the biggest threat for Indian bowlers as she is in terrific form. One Australian player who will be hungry for runs is skipper Meg Lanning, who didn’t score big in the ODIS.
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Right now for us as a team it is a learning process and preparing for the World Cup and day by day we are taking the challenges. Both Australia, England are good in T20. HARMANPREET KAUR, India captain
We’ve definitely got some confidence in our group from the way we’ve played (in the ODIS). But we do understand that it’s a different format and it’s very close in T20s.
MEG LANNING, Australia captain