India and Sri Lanka kicked off the ICC Women's World Cup in the Northeastern city of Guwahati on Tuesday, September 30, with the visiting skipper Chamari Athapaththu winning the toss and opting to field first. Guwahati was covered with sunlight for the last few days but the skies were overcast and dark on Tuesday, September 30 and Athapaththu reckoned that with how her team is built, bowling first was the best call for the conditions they were up against at the Barsapara Cricket Stadium.
Indian skipper Harmanpreet Kaur also wanted to field first, suggesting that there might be something in the wicket early on for the bowlers, but wasn't too disappointed with having to bat, conceding that it looked like a very good wicket. "We were looking to bowl as well. Looks (pitch) very good, hopefully we will put up a good score," Kaur said at the toss.
India went in with a spin-heavy combination, with the World Cup debutant Shree Charani pipping Radha Yadav for the third spinner's spot, while the pacers Renuka Singh Thakur and Arundhati Reddy both didn't find a place. Thakur is likely to be used very sparsely yet strategically, given how injury-prone she has been in the last 12 months. However, with the all-rounder Amanjot Kaur as the second seamer, India looked a little light on their bowling.
Sri Lanka, on the other hand, would want to restrict India to 260-270 to have a chance of chasing it down and open up the tournament in the first game itself.
India will start as overwhelming favourites, but as Athapaththu mentioned on the captains' day, Sri Lanka have beaten the Women in Blue in a couple of big games in the last 18 months or so and can do it again, but they will have to be at their best in all three departments.
Playing XIs
India Women: Pratika Rawal, Smriti Mandhana, Harleen Deol, Harmanpreet Kaur(c), Jemimah Rodrigues, Richa Ghosh(w), Deepti Sharma, Amanjot Kaur, Sneh Rana, Kranti Gaud, Shree Charani
Sri Lanka Women: Chamari Athapaththu(c), Hasini Perera, Harshitha Samarawickrama, Vishmi Gunaratne, Kavisha Dilhari, Nilakshi de Silva, Anushka Sanjeewani(w), Achini Kulasuriya, Sugandika Kumari, Udeshika Prabodhani, Inoka Ranaweera
