India take on defending champions Australia as Tahlia McGrath won the toss and elected to bat first in their last Group A match at the Sharjah Cricket Stadium in Dubai on October 13, Sunday.
Right ahead of the clash Australia suffered a massive blow as Alyssa Healy has been ruled out of the crucial clash against India due to injury.
Cricket Australia (CA) confirmed Healy's unavailability for the clash against Women in Blue.
“She will continue to be assessed over the coming days and should Australia qualify for the semi finals, her availability will be determined in due course,” CA's statement read.
Harmanpreet Kaur made one change to India's playing XI and brought in Pooja Vastrakar in place of Sajeevan Sajana.
What did the captains say?
After losing the toss, India skipper Harmanpreet Kaur, said:
"It's absolutely fine, we have to bowl them out for a low total and chase it down. It's our first game here, we have watched many games on TV and we have our plans. We have beaten them in the past too and we can again do that. One change for us - Pooja (Vastrakar) comes in for Sajana".
Meanwhile Australia's stand-in captain Tahlia McGrath, after winning the toss, said:
"We are gonna bat first, put up a score on the board. This is third game here, looks like a slightly better surface than the previous ones. We have two changes"
Australia'S Playing XI:
Beth Mooney(w), Grace Harris, Ellyse Perry, Ashleigh Gardner, Phoebe Litchfield, Tahlia McGrath(c), Georgia Wareham, Annabel Sutherland, Sophie Molineux, Megan Schutt, Darcie Brown
India'S Playing XI:
Shafali Verma, Smriti Mandhana, Harmanpreet Kaur(c), Jemimah Rodrigues, Richa Ghosh(w), Deepti Sharma, Pooja Vastrakar, Arundhati Reddy, Shreyanka Patil, Asha Sobhana, Renuka Thakur Singh
Notably, India's resounding victory over Sri Lanka earlier this week has enhanced their prospects of qualifying for the semifinals, despite their initial loss to New Zealand. On the other hand, Australia, currently holding six points from three matches and are still unbeaten in the ongoing Women's T20 World Cup 2024.
