Indians look to iron out batting woes

Melbourne, Feb. 28: A semifinal berth secured, the unbeaten Indian women's cricket team would look to address some of its batting issues in the final Group A match against a deflated Sri Lanka in the ICC T20 World Cup here on Saturday.

The Indians are on a roll, having easily sealed their semifinal berth with wins over defending champions Australia, Bangladesh and New Zealand.

The Lankans, on the other hand, are out of the semifinal race following two losses so far.

While India beat hosts Australia by 17 runs in the tournament opener, they defeated Bangladesh by 18 runs before eking out a narrow four-run victory over the White Ferns on Thursday.

And come Saturday, the Harmanpreet Kaur-led side would look to end its group engagements on a high when it takes on the islanders.

But the Indians definitely have a few things to worry about, especially their below-par show with the bat, going into the business end of the tournament. In all the previous three outings, India failed to put on big scores on the board.

“I know we have qualified, but the next game is still crucial for us. We will be taking Sri Lanka very seriously,” Harmanpreet said, adding, “I know they haven’t won a game but they were almost there on both occasions. We will be taking it very seriously before we start thinking about the crucial semifinals.”

England, South Africa

register wins Opener Lizelle Lee smashed a blistering century before South African bowlers put up an outstanding effort to register an emphatic 113-run victory over debutants Thailand in the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup, at Canberra on Friday.

Electing to bat, the Proteas posted 195 for three, the highest team total in the tournament’s history, on the back of opener Lee’s 60-ball 101 and Sune Luus’ unbeaten

61.

In another match, South Africa mauled minnows Thailand by 113 runs to go top of the group, riding a

60-ball 101 by opener Lizelle Lee. —

I know we have qualified, but the next game is still crucial for us. We will be taking Sri Lanka very seriously. They’ve been doing well. —HARMANPREET KAUR