Commonwealth Games, AUSW vs INDW: Harmanpreet Kaur elects to bat
India Women are set to face Australia Women in the first match (Group A) of the Women's T20 event at the 2022 Commonwealth Games (CWG) in Birmingham. Notably, women's cricket is being featured at the Games for the first time. There will be two groups comprising of four teams each. Besides, Indian captain Harmanpreet Kaur has won the toss and elected to bat first.
India Women (Playing XI): Smriti Mandhana, Shafali Verma, Harmanpreet Kaur (captain), Yastika Bhatia (wicket-keeper), Jemimah Rodrigues, Harleen Deol, Deepti Sharma, Radha Yadav, Rajeshwari Gayakwad, Meghna Singh, Renuka Singh. Australia Women (Playing XI): 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.
The match is set to be played at the Edgbaston in Birmingham and will start at 3:30 PM IST. The pitch is expected to assist the batters throughout the match. Meanwhile, the fast bowlers will have their say too. One can watch the match live on the Sony Ten Network and stream the same on the SonyLIV app (paid subscription).
The two teams have met on 23 occasions in WT20I cricket. Australia have won 16 games, while India claimed six wins. Meanwhile, one match didn't have a result. Australia Women beat India Women in the last bilateral series they played (2-0).
Cricket returns to CWG for the first time in over two decades. Edgbaston in Birmingham will play host to the eight-team women's T20 tournament. Notably, cricket last featured in a multi-sporting tournament in 1998. A 'List A' men's tournament was held at the 1998 Commonwealth Games in Malaysia. South Africa won the gold medal in the 50-over event in Kuala Lumpur.
