Tahlia McGrath | stand-in Australia captain: We are gonna bat first, put up a score on the board. This is third game here, looks like a slightly better surface than the previous ones. We have two changes.
Australia Women have won the toss and have opted to bat
Our correspondent, Purnima Malhotra, pings from the venue: Healy definitely doesn't look like she'll be playing tonight. She walked in on crutches, which could be purely precautionary.
India, on the other hand, got off to a poor start in the tournament as they were blown away by New Zealand.
16:48 Local Time, 12:48 GMT, 18:18 IST: India are set to face Australia, the defending champions, in a high-octane clash in Sharjah.
Preview by Purnima Malhotra
That India shifted their training base to Sharjah Cricket Stadium two days out from the make-or-break final group game against Australia, on Sunday (October 13) comes as a little surprise to anyone. Just as the broadcasters and the organisers wrapped up the post-match formalities at the main ground on Saturday, the Indians - some of them seated in the VIP stands to catch-up with New Zealand's progress - descended on to one half of the sprawling facility, diagonally in front of the Sachin Tendulkar stand - a major tourist attraction in this part of UAE all-year long.
Curiously, teams like England and Australia, who each have three respective group matches here, were never allotted training sessions here. But Australia's comprehensive victory over both Sri Lanka and New Zealand here is enough reason to believe that despite this being their first international assignment in Sharjah, the defending champions have adapted better than most.
To cover ground and acclimatise better, India made the trip 30 km east instead of the usual 20-minute drive west to the ICC Academy in Dubai. On both days they also summoned the U-16 and U-19 boys of the Sharjah Cricket Academy for a three-hour full-tilt session.
"When we were watching [the Sharjah matches] on TV it looked like the ball was [gripping] more, or maybe even turning more here. But, when we practiced batting here yesterday it didn't look like that. Everyone liked it, since the ball was coming on to the bat nicely. We've got another day here today to bat and bowl here and to see what works best for us [in these conditions] We'll then make our game plans accordingly," India skipper Harmanpreet Kaur said on the eve of the game.
Australia have worry lines of their own, losing their captain Alyssa Healy (acute right foot injury) and Tayla Vlaeminck (right shoulder dislocation) in the same game on Friday in Dubai. Both players went for scans on Saturday but an availability call is only expected closer to match time.
India would empathise though, having been in the exact same position ahead of their key clash against Sri Lanka when Harmanpreet retired hurt against Pakistan with an apparent neck sprain while Pooja Vastrakar was still recovering from an ankle niggle since their tournament-opening loss by 58 runs to New Zealand.
The pair went about their extended warm-up drills separately as the rest, including coach Amol Muzumdar, indulged in a game of footy - Harmanpreet strengthening her left-knee that was in a brace and Vastrakar trying to get a feel of the ankle that has troubled her since the start of the tournament. By the time openers Shafali Verma and Smriti Mandhana were done with their brief stints on the side-wicket open nets, Vastrakar had joined the diverse India bowling group opposite of them while Harmanpreet padded up.
Vastrakar, even though back at full throttle, may not be in contention for return immediately if India decide to go spin-heavy. Sharjah has lived up to the pre-tournament spin-it-to-win-it notion more than Dubai this World Cup, particularly in the evening fixtures. In five night games here this World Cup, 45 wickets have been scalped by spinners whereas only 22 wickets have gone to pace bowlers. Teams like England have gone as far as bowling 16 overs of spin. Sample this - spinners have sent down 133.5 overs in Sharjah whereas pacers have been deployed for only 57.4 overs across the five night games.
Incidentally, in both previous World Cup editions where India have been grouped with Australia - 2018 in the Caribbean Islands and Down Under in 2020 - they have come up trumps. However, such has been Australia's sustained dominance that there hasn't been a new T20 champion since they reclaimed the trophy in Antigua.
And so with such elite women's rivalry coming to Sharjah, all tickets to the near 15,000 capacity stadium - with prices ranging from a day-pass of AED 15 for the general stands to AED 600 for the VIP ones - were sold out three days in advance. And, there's a scramble for more. Now for then cricket to live up to the hype on its maiden UAE sojourn.
When: Sunday, October 13 at 6 PM Local | 7:30 PM IST
Where: Sharjah Cricket Stadium, Sharjah
What to expect: Teams batting first have won three of the five night games here. Only West Indies had opted to chase in an evening fixture, against Bangladesh, and won. Three of the other four were on the winning side after electing to put a total on the board - the only exception being South Africa, who failed to defend sub-par 124 against England.
Qualification scenarios:
India will qualify automatically if they beat Australia by 61 runs or more (assuming they score 150 batting first).
If India beat Australia by 20 runs, they'll have to hope that New Zealand's victory margin against Pakistan is no more than 37 runs to stay ahead of them on NRR (assuming first-innings score of 150 in both cases).
In case of a defeat, India's NRR will stay ahead of New Zealand if the margin is less than 16 runs (assuming a 151-run target). That however, would mean a win for New Zealand - regardless of the margin - would be enough to go through, and thereby knock India out.
Team News
India captain Harmanpreet confirmed the full squad of 15 is fit and available for selection for the must-win game. Keeping with the trend, if India decide to go spin heavy, Radha Yadav might get a look in for the first time this World Cup.
Australia did not train on Saturday, given the short turnaround time between their last two group games. Should Healy not make it, they have a plethora of options to promote in the batting order. Grace Harris and Phoebe Litchfield, tried out most recently in a solitary T20I in Bangladesh, are likely top-contenders here. Beth Mooney, as expected, will take the gloves. Australia might even be tempted to pack an extra spin option in the XI with Alana King coming in for injured Vlaeminck.
- Pooja Vastrakar is on 99 international wickets for India, across formats
- Beth Mooney needs 44 runs to enter the prestigious 3000-run club in WT20Is whereas Tahlia McGrath is 10 away from completing 1000
- Kim Garth, if she plays, is three wickets away from 50 in WT20Is
What they said:
"They're going to come pretty hard at us like they do, that's their style of play. So, we're certainly going to have to be really tight, particularly in the power play with the ball. I think we've still had some areas of the game that we need to tighten up on because I think they'll really exploit that if we don't. It's just sort of a matter of reassessing and staying, being quite honest with our performances regardless of the scoreline and just making sure that we're really tight with them because we know how good a team they are." - Australia head coach Shelley Nitschke isn't taking India lightly
"For us tomorrow's game is important and we'll try to play our best cricket. [What happens when] New Zealand and Pakistan play after us is not in our hands. And we don't even want to discuss those things. We just want to keep things simple and just focus on tomorrow's game." - Captain Harmanpreet Kaur insists India are focussed on the controllables
Squads:
Australia Women Squad: Beth Mooney, Alyssa Healy(w/c), Ellyse Perry, Ashleigh Gardner, Phoebe Litchfield, Georgia Wareham, Tahlia McGrath, Annabel Sutherland, Sophie Molineux, Megan Schutt, Tayla Vlaeminck, Darcie Brown, Alana King, Grace Harris, Kim Garth
Australia Women
India Women
