India's ace opener Smriti Mandhana has made a comeback to the side after recovering from finger injury. Indian skipper Harmanpreet Kaur made two changes to the side that beat Pakistan by seven wickets. In addition, Harmanpreet brought Devika Vaidya has been picked for the West Indies clash.
West Indies women skipper won the toss and opted to bat first at Newlands, Cape Town.
Mandhana missed India's opening encounter against Pakistan. In her absence, Yastika Bhatia opened the innings. Yastika scored 17 runs from 20 deliveries in the run chase of 150 against Pakistan bowlers in the powerplay overs. She was picked for Rs 1.5 crore by Mumbai Indians in Women Premier League (WPL) auction. Harleen Deol who did not get to bat in the first innings has also been dropped.
“We wanted to bat today. Last game we chased. Today, the wicket is looking a little better compared to the last game. We wanted to bat first. Smriti and Devika are back. We know them. We played a couple of games before the tournament. Big day for all of us (when asked about the auction),” Harmanpreet said after losing the toss.
“Last game didn't go too badly. We have one change. We had the tri-series. India are a strong side. We would look to get better of them by playing our brand of cricket,” Matthews said after winning the toss.
Playing XIs:
India: Smriti Mandhana, Shafali Verma, Jemimah Rodrigues, Harmanpreet Kaur (c), Richa Ghosh (wk), Devika Vaidya, Deepti Sharma, Pooja Vastrakar, Radha Yadav, Rajeshwari Gaikwad, Renuka Thakur Singh
West Indies: Hayley Matthews(c), Stafanie Taylor, Shemaine Campbelle, Shabika Gajnabi, Chinelle Henry, Chedean Nation, Afy Fletcher, Shamilia Connell, Rashada Williams(w), Karishma Ramharack, Shakera Selman
