The T20 International has been the best-suited format for Indian Women in the last few years but so has been the case for Australian Women and Harmanpreet Kaur’s women have had a harsh reality check so far in the ongoing series.
Although they have not been terrible in the two matches of the series so far against Meg Lanning’s side, they have not been at the top of their game as well, and now face a do or die game in the final game of the series to avert another series defeat in the series.
The tour had begun with the ODI series where the Indian Women took a longer time to adapt and come through the ranks than they would have liked and could win only one game of the series. They were excellent both with the bat and ball in the only Test that followed but at the same time they were timid in their approach and could not mount a challenge to the home side.
In the first game of the T20I series, they were excellent with the bat and were helped by the usual suspects with the bat such as Shafali Verma and Smriti Mandhana, who played outrageous shots to issue statements of intent. They lost their way midway through the game but were well on their way to score a big score that could have tested the larger than life batting unit of Australia, but rain played spoilsport.
However, more than the results in the T20I series, it has been refreshing to see the aggressive approach adopted by the batting unit. They were quick to realise that reaching 150 runs won’t serve any purpose against an all-strength Australian batting and hence decided to throw caution to the wind.
They were on a rapid stride in the first game and carried on till the rain halted the game and they tried a similar path in the second game albeit after losing a couple of early wickets.
Australia Women would be wary of a disciplined Indian bowling attack that kept them on their toes throughout the innings before Tahlia McGrath imposed herself on the crease and sealed the deal for them.
All in all, the final game of the series and the tour is perfectly set up to throw another set of enthralling contests inside a contest and the side winning most of those duels will come up trump against the other.
Match Details
Australia Women vs India Women
Game: 3rd T20I
Venue – Carrara Oval, Queensland
Time – 14:10 PM IST, 18:40 PM Local
Broadcast– Sony Sports Network
Pitch Report
The pitch at the Carra Oval has had something on offer to all sets of players be it batsmen, pacer or spinner and the trend is likely to be continued in the final game. There was a prodigious swing on offer under lights that was well established by the whooping inswinger bowled by Shikha Pandey and the team chasing will have to be mindful of the new ball threat.
Probable XI
Australia Women
Alyssa Healy (WK), Beth Mooney, Meg Lanning (C), Ellyse Perry, Ashleigh Gardner, Tahlia McGrath, Sophie Molineux, Georgia Wareham, Hannah Darlington, Tayla Vlaeminck
India Women
Smriti Mandhana, Shafali Verma, Yastika Bhatia, Jemimah Rodrigues, Harmanpreet Kaur (C), Deepti Sharma, Richa Ghosh (WK), Pooja Vastrakar, Shikha Pandey, Renuka Singh, Rajeshwari Gayakwad
AUS W vs IND W: Fantasy XI
Beth Mooney, Meg Lanning, Harmanpreet Kaur, Ashleigh Gardner, Deepti Sharma, Sophie Molineux, Tayla Vlaemick, Rajeshwari Gayakwad, Shikha Pandey
Captain: Alyssa Healy (WK)
Vice-Captain: Smriti Mandhana