Major events
Teams:
Grace Harris and Darcy Brown are back in Australia. In the Indian team, Pooja Vastrakar is back in the XI. It's still a scorching 34 degrees in Sharjah. As the evening sets in, the temperature drops. Sometimes snow plays a role…
India: 1 Shafali Verma, 2 Smriti Mandana, 3 Harmanpreet Kaur (C), 4 Jemima Rodriguez, 5 Richa Ghosh (W), 6 Deepti Sharma, 7 Pooja Vastrakar, 8 Arundhati Reddy, 9 Sreyanka Patil, 10 Asha Sobana Singh, 11 Renuka Singh
Australia: 1 Beth Mooney (W), 2 Grace Harris, 3 Elise Perry, 4 Ashleigh Gardner, 5 Phoebe Litchfield, 6 Tahlia McGrath (C), 7 Georgia Wareham, 8 Annabelle Sutherland, 9 Sophie Molyneux, 10 Megan Darcyd Brown, 11
Australia will win the toss and bat first
It has been confirmed that Alyssa Healy will not play for Australia. She plays on crutches, so it doesn't bode well for other matches. Talia McGrath took over the captaincy with the incredibly experienced Elise Perry as her vice-captain, her first act was successful as she won the toss and elected to bat.
Foreword
James Wallace
Hello and welcome to Australia v India OBO from Sharjah. A place in the T20 World Cup semi-finals is on the line and Harmanpreet Kaur's side have it all to do. To progress, they need to jam a stick into the spokes of one of the biggest sides to support world cricket, and that's no exaggeration.
If India win by 61 runs or more, they will leapfrog the Aussies and automatically qualify for the final four, but that would be some changes to the books as they have only won 8 of the 34 T20Is they have played against the Aussies. However, the world champions have a few injury concerns that make them more vulnerable.
Fast bowler Tayla Vlaeminck suffered a dislocated right shoulder after four balls in their final win over Pakistan and captain Alyssa Healy was forced off the field at the end of the match with a “severe” injury to her right leg.
Healy's prognosis for the rest of the tournament will soon become clear after he was sent for scans yesterday. Willemink's injury was a cruel blow as the fast bowler was playing only his second World Cup match since 2018 due to injury.
The Aussies have significant strength in depth but will not take India lightly as they have another World Cup in their sights. If India win by less than 61 runs, they will be nervously watching New Zealand's match against Pakistan, and looking at the net run rate results will, frankly, blow my mind. We will cross that number bridge whenever and wherever we come.
Play starts at 6pm local time, 1am AEDT and 3pm AEDT. I'll be back with news on the teams and the toss as they filter. Drop me a line with any thoughts and theories, (As a joke?) capacity OBO mail bag open.
