INDW vs AUSW: Three years ago, India and Australia met in a high-voltage T20 World Cup final in Melbourne. Coming into that match, India defeated the Aussies in a group stage and the showdown clash was also expected to be a thrilling contest. However, the Aussies were way too good when it mattered the most and thrashed India by 85 runs to claim their 5th Women's T20 World Cup. Come Thursday, India women would want to overturn the outcome of their previous T20 World Cup meet.
Australia are world beaters. It goes without saying. In the 30 T20Is against India, Australia have won 22 and have gone down 7 times. Against all opponents since 2018, Australia have won 54 of the 63 T20Is. They hardly lose any game. Australia have lost just two official matches in any format since dropping a T20 game to New Zealand in March 2021. But note, those two defeats have come to only one team- India. The Women in Blue are a strong side and have many match-winners among them. They have improved from time to time and have become a world-class team.
India need to address issues
But India would need to address some issues. Though some of their batters have played match-winning knocks, Harmanpreet is yet to join the party. Smriti Mandhana played a good hand in the clash against Ireland, while Jemimah Rodrigues and Richa Ghosh have been stand-out batters for the team. But Shafali Verma and Harmanpreet Kaur have not been able to convert starts into decent scores.
On the other hand, bowling has also seen only a few players living up to expectations. While Deepti Sharma and Renuka Singh have performed well, others need to join the party as well. This becomes more important when we know that Australia bat deep.
Australia need things to go well
Meanwhile, Australia have won all four matches of the ongoing T20 World Cup. There have been various batters who have played good knocks. Alyssa Healy, Beth Mooney, Meg Lanning, and Tahlia McGrath, all have performed in some or the other matches. They have won decently too but still lacked a bit of their fiery touch. The Aussies know they can't take India lightly and would need everything to go well if they have to make it to the finals. Healy missed Australia's final group game due to quad soreness but is available for selection. She recently spoke to the media and admitted that they are not in the mood to take India lightly. It was in 2020 that India fell one step short of the trophy in Australia. This time they will have to go past the Aussies to reach the summit clash.
Australia squad:
Beth Mooney (wk), Ellyse Perry, Meg Lanning (c), Ashleigh Gardner, Tahlia McGrath, Grace Harris, Georgia Wareham, Annabel Sutherland, Alana King, Megan Schutt, Darcie Brown, Alyssa Healy, Heather Graham, Jess Jonassen, Kim Garth
India squad:
Shafali Verma, Yastika Bhatia, Jemimah Rodrigues, Harleen Deol, Harmanpreet Kaur (c), Richa Ghosh (wk), Deepti Sharma, Pooja Vastrakar, Radha Yadav, Rajeshwari Gayakwad, Renuka Thakur Singh, Smriti Mandhana, Shikha Pandey, Devika Vaidya, Anjali Sarvani
