Women’s T20 WC: India aim to bolster NRR against Sri Lanka

India's main problem so far is performance of their batters, especially explosive opening combination of Shafali and Smriti Mandhana

Dubai: On a sticky wicket after a mixed start to the campaign, India will look to fix their batting woes to bolster their net run rate when they take on bottom-placed Sri Lanka in their third and penultimate Group A match of the T20 Women’s World Cup here on Wednesday.

It has not been smooth sailing for the Indians in the showpiece event so far, having lost to New Zealand by 58 runs in their tournament-opener and then scampering home in 18.5 overs against arch-rivals Pakistan while chasing a modest 105.

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India’s main problem in the tournament so far is the performance of their batters, especially the explosive opening combination of Shafali Verma and vice-captain Smriti Mandhana. While Shafali scored just 2 and 32 in the first two games, Mandhana also faired poorly managing 12 and 7 runs. And it’s time the duo fires in unison to ease the pressure on the middle-order.

To make matters worse for India, skipper Harmanpreet Kaur, who scored 15 and 29 retired hurt, is doubtful for the match against Sri Lanka after suffering a neck injury while batting against Pakistan. The likes of Jemimah Rodrigues, Deepti Sharma and Richa Ghosh too need to step up with the bat and share the burden of responsibility.

While medium pacer Arundhati Reddy sparkled against Pakistan with the ball, returning with figures of 3/19, she would look for more support from the likes of fellow pace colleagues Renuka Singh and Pooja Vastrakar, who didn’t play the previous game because of an injury.

The Indian team relies heavily on Deepti Sharma in the spin department but she hasn’t quite managed to hit her strides in the tournament so far. Young off-spinner Shreyanka Patil and leg-spinner Asha Shobhana have done a decent job, picking up a few wickets.

The Indians will need to lift themselves in all departments of the game as in Australia a strong opponent awaits them in their last group match. India will not only need to win but record a victory big enough against Sri Lanka to boost their Net Run Rate (NRR) before the do-or-die league game against defending champions Australia on October 13.

Sri Lanka might have lost both their opening matches, but the islanders won’t be an easy opponent for India, especially after the win in the Asia Cup final in August. India opener Shafali admitted that Sri Lanka are no longer only dependent on their skipper Chamarai Athapaththu.

Teams (From):

India: Harmanpreet Kaur (c), Smriti Mandhana, Shafali Verma, Deepti Sharma, Jemimah Rodrigues, Richa Ghosh (wk), Yastika Bhatia, Pooja Vastrakar, Arundhati Reddy, Renuka Singh Thakur, Dayalan Hemalatha, Asha Sobhana, Radha Yadav, Shreyanka Patil, Sajana Sajeevan Sri Lanka: Vishmi Gunaratne, Harshitha Samarawickrama, Hasini Perera, Anushka Sanjeewani (wk), Nilakshika Silva, Chamari Athapaththu (c), Kavisha Dilhari, Ama Kanchana, Inoshi Priyadharshani, Shashini Gimhani, Achini Kulasuriya, Sugandika Kumari, Sachini Nisansala, Udeshika Prabodhani, Inoka Ranaweera.

Match starts at 7:30 PM IST.