Women’s World Cup T20 2024/25, AUS-W vs IND-W 18th Match, Group A Match Preview

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Women’s World Cup T20 2024/25, AUS-W vs IND-W 18th Match, Group A Match Preview

England vs Scotland

Sharjah, 2pm local time

England team: Heather Knight (captain), Lauren Bell, Maia Bouchier, Alice Capsey, Charlie Dean, Sophia Dunkley, Sophie Ecclestone, Danielle Gibson, Sarah Glenn, Bess Heath, Amy Jones (wk), Freya Kemp, Nat Sciver-Brunt, Linsey Smith, Danni Wyatt

Team Scotland: Kathryn Bryce (captain), Chloe Abel, Abbi Aitken-Drummond, Olivia Bell, Sarah Bryce (wk), Darcey Carter, Priyanaz Chatterji, Katherine Fraser, Saskia Horley, Lorna Jack, Ailsa Lister, Abtaha Maqsood, Megan McColl, Hannah Rainey, Rachel Slater

Tournament form guide: England have won both matches they have played so far – against Bangladesh and South Africa – while Scotland come into this game having lost all three matches.

Short stories: These teams will be facing each other for the first time in T20Is. England come into this game after a four-day gap, having last played South Africa on Monday.

Scotland are out of the semi-final race. Group B has three teams – England, West Indies and South Africa – in contention for the semi-finals, with England having the lowest run rate among them. England will be looking to improve their NRR with a big win.

“There was a bit of sickness at one point but I think I hope everyone will be there,” England captain Heather Knight said about the presence of the players before the game.

A player to watch: Danni Wyatt-Hodge has been solid up top for England. Chasing a target of 125 on a soft Sharjah pitch, with left-arm spinners bowling at both ends, he dropped the anchor after the early loss of Maia Bouchier and put together a 64-run stand with Nat Sciver -Brunt. He finished with 43 from as many balls, which followed his Player-of-the-Match 41 against Bangladesh.

Australia vs India

Sharjah, 6pm local time

Team Australia: Alyssa Healy (capt & wk), Darcie Brown, Ashleigh Gardner, Kim Garth, Grace Harris, Alana King, Phoebe Litchfield, Tahlia McGrath, Sophie Molineux, Beth Mooney, Ellyse Perry, Megan Schutt, Annabel Sutherland, Tayla Vlaeminck, Georgia Wareham

Team India: Harmanpreet Kaur (capt), Smriti Mandhana (vice-capt), Yastika Bhatia (wk), Shafali Verma, Deepti Sharma, Jemimah Rodrigues, Richa Ghosh (wk), Pooja Vastrakar, Arundhati Reddy, Renuka Singh, D Hemalatha, Asha Sobhana, Radha Yadav, Shreyanka Patil, S Sajana

Tournament form guide: Australia have won three games in three matches and are coming into the tournament with a complete loss to Pakistan. With that win, they also all clinched the semi-final spot thanks to their 2.786 overall rating. India have won twice in three matches. In their previous match, they posted the highest total of the tournament so far – 172 for 3 – and bundled out Sri Lanka for 90 to seal their biggest win by runs in the T20 World Cup.

Short stories: Australia has serious concerns about serious injury to the conflict. Just four balls into the match against Pakistan, Tayla Vlaeminck came out with a sprained right shoulder. To make matters worse, captain Alyssa Healy suffered a “bad right foot” injury while scoring 37 as he walked off the field with Australia needing 14 runs to win. Both players went for a test on Saturday.

Indian captain Harmanpreet Kaur, who suffered a neck injury during the match against Pakistan, came up with a pain reliever on the right side of her neck during the Sri Lanka match. He also did not hold the field when he was chased. Fast bowler Pooja Vastrakar bowled at full tilt before the Sri Lanka match but did not play.

India will be looking for a big win against Australia. If it wins by more than 61 runs, it will go ahead of Australia, thus being able to enter the semi finals. In the event that India win by less than 60 runs, they will hope that New Zealand wins by a very narrow margin against Pakistan on Monday. For example, if India make 150 against Australia and win by exactly 10 runs, New Zealand needs to beat Pakistan by 28 runs defending 150 to advance to the NRR of India. If India lose to Australia by more than 17 runs while chasing a target of 151, New Zealand’s NRR will be ahead of India, even if Pakistan beat New Zealand by a run one while protecting 150.

In all, India have won only eight of the 34 T20Is they have played against Australia. Two of those wins came in group stage matches before the T20 World Cup, in 2018 and 2020.

Players to watch: Their two best batsmen have found their form to bode well for India going into the big game. Harmanpreet and Mandhana’s joint effort against Pakistan boosted India’s NRR in the warm-up of the semi-final race. Mandhana, after starting his innings well, changed gears and faced the Sri Lankan spinners to make 50 in 38 balls. Harmanpreet, picking up where he left off against Pakistan, played a classic game, hitting eight fours and a six on his way to a 27-ball 52. It was exactly what India needed to revive their T20 World Cup campaign.

Sruthi Ravindranath is an associate editor at ESPNcricinfo

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