Women’s 2nd T20 | India looks to fire on all cylinders

Bolstered by Jemimah Rodrigues’ return to form, India will look to come out all guns blazing in the second women’s T20 International against Australia on Saturday after rain played spoilsport in the opening game here.

Criticised for regular failures and after losing her place in the 50-over side, Jemimah made a sensational comeback with an unbeaten 49 off 36 balls in the first T20I.

Strong at the top

Smriti Mandhana and Shafali Verma have been in good form, having played pivotal roles in the drawn Test and given India a rollicking start in the first T20.

Harmanpreet Kaur also joined the team in the first game after missing the ODI leg and the Day/Night Test owing to a thumb injury. Her presence makes India a formidable batting unit.

Thursday’s game was washed out and Harmanpreet & Co. will look to win the next two T20s to end the tour on a high. It’s also a fine opportunity for the young duo of Yastika Bhatia and Richa Ghosh to shine in the middle order.

Veteran seamer Shikha Pandey will bear the onus of getting early wickets, while Renuka Singh, Meghna Singh and spinners Pooja Vastrakar, Rajeshwari Gayakwad and Deepti Sharma will also have to step up.

Experienced unit

Australia, on the other hand, boasts of a number of quality all-rounders. Captain Meg Lanning has plenty of options and will hope the young stars will deliver.

The hosts also have plenty of experience in Ellyse Perry, Alyssa Healy, Ashleigh Gardner and Beth Mooney.

The teams (from):

India: Harmanpreet Kaur (Capt.), Smriti Mandhana (Vice-Capt.), Shafali Verma, Jemimah Rodrigues, Deepti Sharma, Sneh Rana, Yastika Bhatia, Shikha Pandey, Meghna Singh, Pooja Vastrakar, Rajeshwari Gayakwad, Poonam Yadav, Richa Ghosh (wk), Harleen Deol, Arundhati Reddy, Radha Yadav and Renuka Singh.

Australia: Meg Lanning (Capt.), Darcie Brown, Maitlan Brown, Stella Campbell, Nicola Carey, Hannah Darlington, Ashleigh Gardner, Alyssa Healy, Tahlia McGrath, Sophie Molineux, Beth Mooney, Ellyse Perry, Georgia Redmayne, Molly Strano, Annabel Sutherland, Tayla Vlaeminck and Georgia Wareham.

Match starts at 1.40 p.m. IST.