Harmanpreet Kaur and her team are set to face their biggest test of the Women’s T20 World Cup 2024. Their next game is against Sri Lanka on Wednesday at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium. The last time these two sides met was in the Asia Cup 2024 final which was won by Sri Lanka.
India’s skipper has given fans a huge headache with an injury during the game against Pakistan. Smriti Mandhana speaking at the end of the game said “Too soon to say anything; the medics are looking at it. Hopefully, she is alright. As a bowling unit, we were very disciplined and in the field, we were good too. We could have done with a better start with the bat, but we will take this”
Not only does India have to beat Sri Lanka but also wins by a huge margin. At this time, India is 4th in the table with 2 points from 2 games. Their run rate is -1.217 with Pakistan third with a run rate of +0.555. Speaking about this Mandhana said “ We were thinking about it, but Shafali and I weren’t able to time it well. So we didn’t want to get to a place where we were chasing the game, but NRR is surely in our heads. This game will give us some momentum, and hopefully, we can keep going in this tournament”
Here is the likely India XI vs Sri Lanka
Top order – Shafali Verma, Smriti Mandhana, and Jemimah Rodrigues
Smriti Mandhana has been struggling with the bat in recent times. The left-handed batter scored just 7 runs from 16 balls in the game against Pakistan. Shafali Varma was the best batter for India during the game on Sunday. Her 32 runs off 35 balls were the difference as the Indian side won the game by 6 wickets. Jemimah Rodriguez showed tremendous maturity to score 23 runs off 28 balls and play a crucial role with the bat.
Middle Order – Harmanpreet Kaur, Richa Ghosh and Deepti Sharma
India will hope that their skipper finds full fitness and gets to play on Wednesday. The veteran batter scored 29 not out from 24 balls against Pakistan before walking off the park. Richa Ghosh is yet to fire with the bat but her wicketkeeping was amazing on Sunday and she will build confidence using this. Deepti Sharma was her steady self with the ball as she bowled 4 overs and picked 1/24. With the bat, India’s star all-rounder scored 7 runs off 8 balls.
Lower-order – S Sajana and Arundhati Reddy
Sajeevan Sajana gave India the final touches with a four to win the game. Sajana can also roll her arm over if needed during the game. Pacer Arundhati Reddy was at her best on Sunday as she picked 3/19 with the ball and didn’t let Pakistani batters get off the hook. The send-off to Nida Dar though affected her pockets greatly.
Tail enders – Shreyanka Patil, Asha Shobana, and Renuka Singh Thakur
Young spin sensation Shreyanka Patil was at her best with the ball against Pakistan. 2/12 from four overs with the wickets of Muneeba Ali and Tuba Hassan swung the game in India’s favour. Veteran star Asha Shobana got 1/24 from her four overs and was steady with the ball. Renuka Singh Thakur yet again gave India the early momentum by dismissing dangerous Gull Feroza for a duck.
India XI vs Sri Lanka
Shafali Varma, Smriti Mandhana, Jemimah Rodrigues, Harmanpreet Kaur, Richa Ghosh, Deepti Sharma, S Sajana, Arundhati Reddy, Asha Shobana, Shreyanka Patil, Renuka Singh Thakur.
Disclaimer: This exclusive news is based on the author’s insights, analysis, and intuition. While reviewing this information, consider the points discussed and form your own conclusions.
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