With gold medal at stake Harmanpreet Kaur & Co. braced up for a litmus test against mighty Australia in the summit clash of the Commonwealth Games 2022 in Birmingham on action-packed Sunday (August 7).
Five-time T20 Wolrd Cup champions Australia are the only hurdle India need to cross in pursuit of clinching historical CWG gold medal.
However, India will be pumped up after their thrilling 4-run victory over England in the semi-final clash which paved their path for the final. Meanwhile, Australia beat New Zealand by five wickets at the Edgbaston Cricket Ground on Saturday to earn the ticket to the final.
Australia have been unbeaten in the tournament and are the clear favourites.
World No. 4 India have won 13 of the 23 T20 matches against Australia, who have won nine. But the Aussies, the top-ranked team in women’s T20 cricket, beat India in the previous final they played; in the 2020 edition of the T20 World Cup. The India vs Australia women’s CWG cricket match will start at 9:30 PM IST.
The two-teams also played in the tournament-opener. India women were on course to win before Australia women turned the tables around to steal a three-wicket win in the penultimate over.
India will rely on the electric form of Smriti Mandhana, the top scorer of the tournament with 153 runs, Shafali Verma (122) and Jemimah Rodrigues (113).
The left-handed Mandhana scored two fifties, against Pakistan and England. The second one came off just 23 balls, which is the fastest by an Indian in women's T20 cricket. Shafali has been providing the early fireworks with Mandhana, while Rodrigues has been the anchor in the middle order. She has remained not out on three occasions, all for a winning cause.
Renuka Thakur, the top wicket-taker of the tournament with nine scalps, will be keen to breathe fire in the seaming conditions.
Australian all-rounder Tahlia McGrath has been in stellar form and will be key in the crucial clash. She scored 126 runs, including an unbeaten 78 off 51 balls against Pakistan. With the ball, she is second to Thakur in the list with eight wickets.
This is the first time that women's cricket has been introduced at the Games. The men played the 50-over format in Kuala Lumpur which was accorded List A status.
India's CWG squad: Smriti Mandhana, Shafali Verma, Jemimah Rodrigues, Harmanpreet Kaur (captain), Taniya Bhatia (wicket-keeper), Deepti Sharma, Pooja Vastrakar, Radha Yadav, Sneh Rana, Meghna Singh, Renuka Singh, Yastika Bhatia, Sabbhineni Meghana, Harleen Deol, Rajeshwari Gayakwad
Australia's CWG squad: Alyssa Healy (wicket-keeper), Beth Mooney, Meg Lanning (captain), Tahlia McGrath, Rachael Haynes, Ashleigh Gardner, Grace Harris, Jess Jonassen, Alana King, Megan Schutt, Darcie Brown, Nicola Carey, Ellyse Perry, Annabel Sutherland, Amanda Wellington
