Adelaide. If the Indian women’s team has to win a historic series for the first time in Australia, then the batsmen will have to show aggressive play against the experienced bowling of Australia in the third and last women’s T20 match on Saturday. The Indian women’s team has not yet been able to win any bilateral series in Australia in all three formats. To change this, India will have to bat better, starting with openers Smriti Mandhana and Shefali Verma. Smriti and Shefali have started but could not play big innings, due to which India could not achieve the easy target of 164 runs in the second match. The match will start at 1.45 pm.
The experienced Australian trio of Kim Garth, Annabel Sutherland and Sophie Molineau dismissed five of India’s batsmen for just seven runs. But the Adelaide pitch is different from Canberra and Indian batsmen should rely on their pick-up shots. The outfield is also better for batting. Captain Harmanpreet Kaur, Jemimah Rodrigues and Richa Ghosh like the ball on the bat and are hoping to get some help here. With the surface of the field being smooth, the onus will be on the Indian fast bowlers Renuka Singh, Arundhati Reddy, Kranti Gaur and Amanjot Kaur to remain consistent in their line and length as the Australian batsmen can take advantage of any slackness.
The biggest threat could be young player Georgia Woll, who has taken over the responsibility of opening the innings after the departure of Meg Lanning and Alyssa Healy. It is a big deal to fill her place but this 22 year old player has been amazing so far. Indian fast bowlers will have to stop Woll and spinners Deepti Sharma and Sri Charani will also have to contribute in the middle overs. Apart from Sutherland and Ash Gardner, it is also important to keep Phoebe Litchfield calm.
The teams are as follows: India: Harmanpreet Kaur (captain), Smriti Mandhana, Bharti Phoolmali, Kranti Gaur, Richa Ghosh (wicketkeeper), G Kamalini, Amanjot Kaur, Shreyanka Patil, Sneh Rana, Arundhati Reddy, Renuka Singh, Jemimah Rodrigues, Shefali Verma, Deepti Sharma, Shree Charani, Vaishnavi Sharma.
Australia: Sophie Molineau (captain), Tahlia McGrath, Darcey Brown, Nicola Carey, Kim Garth, Grace Harris, Phoebe Lichfield, Beth Mooney, Ellyse Perry, Megan Schutt, Annabel Sutherland, Georgia Woll, Georgia Wareham.