Women’s T20 World Cup: India captain Harmanpreet Kaur wins toss, opts to bat against Ireland

Gqeberha [South Africa], February 20 (ANI): India captain Harmanpreet Kaur won the toss and opted to bat first against Ireland in the Group B match of the ongoing ICC Women’s T20 World Cup 2023 at St George’s Park on Monday. Three defeats from three games mean that Ireland are out of contention in the champioship.

Ireland have one last chance to get a first-ever Women’s T20 World Cup win on the board, and to do so against India would be a huge moment. Qualification for the semi-finals is at stake for Kaur’s side, who will progress with a win. A lively atmosphere is expected at St George’s Park. After back-to-back group stage victories against Pakistan and West Indies, India lost their third Group B fixture against England on Saturday. Harmanpreet Kaur and her team could have taken control of Group 2 and put one foot in the semi-finals with a win over England. With two wins out of three games, India women are placed second on the points table of Group B.

“We are going to bat first. Looks hard and dry surface. Many of us haven’t got that many runs, we need to express ourselves. Devika is playing in place of Radha. It means a lot, I got an emotional message from my teammates. Thanks to BCCI and ICC, we are able to play so many games,” India captain Harmanpreet Kaur said at the time of toss.

“We have to put in our best performance, need to stick to the process. Think the pressure is on India in this game. The players have shown glimpses of what they are capable of doing at this stage,” Ireland captain Laura Delany said at the time of toss.

India Women (Playing XI): Smriti Mandhana, Shafali Verma, Jemimah Rodrigues, Harmanpreet Kaur(c), Richa Ghosh(w), Devika Vaidya, Deepti Sharma, Pooja Vastrakar, Shikha Pandey, Rajeshwari Gayakwad and Renuka Thakur Singh.
Ireland Women (Playing XI): Amy Hunter, Gaby Lewis, Orla Prendergast, Eimear Richardson, Louise Little, Laura Delany(c), Arlene Kelly, Mary Waldron(w), Leah Paul, Cara Murray and Georgina Dempsey.