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With an intent to make their consecutive final, India and Australia lock horns with each other as Meg Lanning won the toss and decided to bat first in the Women's T20 World Cup semifinal tie on Thursday (February 23).
Captain Harmanpreet, who recovered from fever just in time, made three changes in India's playing XI. Sneh Rana replaced Pooja Vastrakar, who was ruled out of the semifinal clash right ahead of the match due to respiratory tract infection. The other two changes in India's final XI are Radha Yadav and Yastika Bhatia who came in for Rajeshwari Gayakwad and Devika Vaidya.
“Pooja is unwell, so Sneh is replacing her. One more change is there. In place of Raja (Rajeshwari Gayakwad) Radha (Yadav) is in. I had a fever, but now I'm fine. One thing that we have been discussing throughout the tournament that we have to bat well that's why we added one more batter. One more change: Yastika comes in for Devika,” Harmanpreet said after the toss.
Meanwhile, Australian skipper Meg Lanning said," We are gonna have a bat. Looks a pretty good wicket, conditions are really good so get out there and have some fun. Jess Jonassen comes in for Alana King and Alyssa Healy (fully fit and good to go) is back for Annabel Sutherland."
Head-to-Head
The Women in Blue do not hold an enviable record against the Aussies in the format, having won only seven times in 30 meetings. India’s last win over Australia came in December 2022 during the five-match T20 series in India.
Pitch report
"It's a fresh pitch and the dimensions are short on one side of the ground. This is the same pitch that will be used for tomorrow as well. It's a nice, healthy green patch and it's in the line of middle and off-stump. The batters would target the shorter boundaries," Ian Bishop and Anjum Chopra analysed the Newlands Cricket Ground's pitch.
India Women's Playing XI: Shafali Verma, Smriti Mandhana, Jemimah Rodrigues, Harmanpreet Kaur(c), Richa Ghosh(w), Deepti Sharma, Yastika Bhatia, Sneh Rana, Shikha Pandey, Radha Yadav, Renuka Thakur Sing.
Australia Women's Playing XI: Alyssa Healy(w), Beth Mooney, Meg Lanning(c), Ashleigh Gardner, Ellyse Perry, Tahlia McGrath, Grace Harris, Georgia Wareham, Jess Jonassen, Megan Schutt, Darcie Brown.
FOLLOW THE LIVE SCORES OF THE WOMEN'S T20 WORLD CUP, 1ST SEMIFINAL BETWEEN INDIA AND AUSTRALIA HERE!
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