Commonwealth Games: Cricket comes to a full circle as history chasing India take on favourites Australia in the final – Firstcricket News, Firstpost

The Commonwealth Games cricket tourney started with India vs Australia. It will end with India vs Australia as the two teams clash for the elated gold medal on 7 August, Sunday at the Edgbaston Stadium in Birmingham. Cricket at the CWG will come to a full circle as the teams that started the event will end the event.

Commonwealth Games: India schedule, Results, Medals tally

The rivalry has grown over the years between two of the strongest teams in the women’s circuit. India eliminated the looming threat of England over the two teams in the semi-final and will face the favourites Australia for the first-ever CWG women’s cricket gold medal.

The last time both sides clashed in such a high-profile match was in the 2020 T20 World Cup final at the MCG. While MCG had 88,000 fans packing the stadium on the day, Edgbaston will be a little softer with a 25,000 seating capacity. It is nevertheless expected to be sold out.

India have beaten a strong England unit in the semi-final and will be high on confidence after snatching that victory from the jaws of defeat. The match was quite an oxymoron to the games opener against Australia, wherein they let the game away from their fists, as Ashleigh Gardner compelled them to.

Australia, so far have steamrolled all the opponents they have faced, and baring the first match against India, have not had any hiccups.

The Australian side is quite more experienced than India, considering that some of the stalwarts of Indian cricket have retired and they have roped in several youngsters in the squad. They will have to ensure to not get carried away by pressure or the excitement of a big match. India will have to fight hard—the Aussies’ never-give-up spirit till the end, which was also witnessed in the first match—to claim the gold medal.

For India, Smriti Mandhana, Jemimah Rodriguez, Sneh Rana, and Dipti Sharma have been at their best and will be the mainstay again to pose a stiff challenge to the Aussies. Australia will also fear Renuka Thakur for the way she dismantled them in the first match.

Australia’s Tahlia McGrath has been like a lone wolf, being the highest run-scorer as well as the highest wicket-taker for her side so far. However, the others have stepped up as and when needed to ensure a win in every match.

Another interesting aspect is that a 40-over match will already have been played between England and New Zealand for the bronze medal before the final takes the crease. It will be worthwhile to see how the pitch behaves and how the teams react.

What they said?

Beth Mooney: The belief in the dressing room is probably at an unprecedented level, to be honest, just because we seem to find a way to win and win ugly.

Harmanpreet Kaur: It means a lot for us [gold medal]. We have been working so hard for a long time, and this time it was a great platform for us. We were participating for the first time at the Commonwealth Games, and if we do well here, a lot of things can change for us.

 Possible Playing XI:

Australia: Alyssa Healy(wk), Beth Mooney, Meg Lanning(c), Tahlia McGrath, Rachael Haynes, Ashleigh Gardner, Grace Harris, Jess Jonassen, Alana King, Megan Schutt, Darcie Brown,

India: Smriti Mandhana, Shafali Verma, Jemimah Rodrigues, Harmanpreet Kaur(c), Deepti Sharma, Pooja Vastrakar, Sneh Rana, Taniya Bhatia(wk), Radha Yadav, Meghna Singh, Renuka Singh.

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