London, June 28 (IANS) India won the toss and elected to bat first against Australia in the final group stage match of the Women's T20 World Cup 2026 at Lord's Cricket Ground on Sunday.
India have made one change for the must-win encounter, as Kranti Gaud is back in the side in place of Nandni Sharma. While Phoebe Litchfield is back in Australia.
Australia have been virtually flawless throughout the tournament, collecting maximum points from four matches and establishing themselves as the benchmark once again. Their impressive net run rate means only an extraordinary sequence of results could prevent them from reaching the semi-finals, allowing them to approach the contest from a position of strength.
India's margin for error is considerably slimmer. Harmanpreet Kaur's team enters the final group game knowing victory would certain their qualification for semi finals while a loss would send them out of the tournament.
Although Australia remain favourites, recent history suggests India have every reason to believe. The memories of knocking Australia out of last year's Women's ODI World Cup and winning a bilateral T201 series on Australian soil have demonstrated that the gap between the two sides has narrowed significantly.
After winning the toss, Indian skipper Harmanpreet Kaur said, "Going to bat first. Very important game for us, so we thought, let's just bat freely. One change. Kranti is back in place of Nandni. These kinds of pitches suit her. It's a fresh day, fresh mind. Today is the day to enjoy ourselves."
While after losing the toss, Australian skipper Sophie Molineux said, "Actually, we were going to have a bowl. Pheebs is back in; Alana King is missing out. Just conditions and matchups."
Playing XIs
India: Smriti Mandhana, Shafali Verma, Yastika Bhatia, Jemimah Rodrigues, Harmanpreet Kaur(c), Richa Ghosh(wk), Deepti Sharma, Radha Yadav, Shree Charani, Renuka Singh Thakur, Kranti Gau
Australia: Beth Mooney(wk), Georgia Voll, Phoebe Litchfield, Ellyse Perry, Ashleigh Gardner, Georgia Wareham, Annabel Sutherland, Nicola Carey, Sophie Molineux (c), Kim Garth, Lucy Hamilton
--IANS
sds/
