India and England Women will renew their rivalry in ODIs in the first of the three-match series today at the Rose Bowl in Southampton. The preceding five-match T20I series between the two teams was won by India 3-2 and they will be looking to assert their dominance in the 50-over format too. With the World Cup just over two months away in India, both teams have limited time to fine-tune their combinations.
The visitors will have a different opening combination as Shafali Verma is not a part of the ODI team, and Pratika Rawal will open the innings with Smriti Mandhana. Rawal started her career on a high, but this will be a stern test for her. Her performance in this series will effectively determine whether she will play in the World Cup as well. The rest of the team looks settled for now, even though there is a selection headache for the team in terms of accommodating Sneh Rana and Harleen Deol in the line-up.
As for England, they have been boosted massively with the return of their skipper, Nat Sciver-Brunt, who missed the last three T20Is of the series due to a groin injury. She has joined the ODI squad and is expected to feature in the opening game as well. Alice Davidson Richards is also part of the ODI squad, and England will be keen on putting their best foot forward with not much time left for the World Cup.
Rose Bowl, Southampton - Pitch Report
Pitches in England have been good for batting. But extreme hot weather in the country has led to the pitch being on the slower side and are expected to assist the spinners as well. With this being the day-night fixture, the team winning the toss might ponder bowling first. The venue has hosted only three Women's ODIs but overall, 36 matches have taken place here in the format with 239 being the average score batting first. A score around 270-275 could be par on this surface.
Southampton - ODI Numbers Game
Matches Played - 36
Matches won batting first - 17
Matches won bowling first - 17
Average first inns score - 239
Highest total - 373 by ENG vs PAK
Highest score chased - 329 by IRE vs ENG
Squads
India Women Squad: Pratika Rawal, Smriti Mandhana, Harleen Deol, Harmanpreet Kaur(c), Jemimah Rodrigues, Richa Ghosh(w), Amanjot Kaur, Deepti Sharma, Kranti Goud, Sneh Rana, Shree Charani, Sayali Satghare, Yastika Bhatia, Tejal Hasabnis, Arundhati Reddy, Radha Yadav
England Women Squad: Tammy Beaumont, Amy Jones(w), Emma Lamb, Nat Sciver-Brunt(c), Sophia Dunkley, Alice Capsey, Alice Davidson Richards, Kate Cross, Linsey Smith, Lauren Bell, Lauren Filer, Charlotte Dean, Maia Bouchier, Em Arlott, Sophie Ecclestone
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