INDW vs AUSW Women's T20 World Cup: India's captain Harmanpreet Kaur has won the battle against time as she has recovered to be a match fit for India's do-or-die semifinal clash against Australia. Kaur's participation comes as a big boost for the Indian team, who are looking to go past the title favourites in the tournament. Meanwhile, Vastrakar has been ruled out of the semifinal clash due to an upper respiratory tract infection.
Kaur's availability came under threat when she reports came out that she suffered a fever and visited a hospital. But the Indian captain walked to the field which boosted the confidence of many fans. Meanwhile, Australia won the toss and opted to bat first at Newlands, South Africa. At the time of the toss, Kaur said, "Pooja Vastrakar is unwell, so Sneh is replacing her. One more change is there. Radha (Yadav) is in for Rajeshwari. I had a fever, but now I'm fine. One thing that we have been discussing throughout the tournament that we have to bat well that's why we added one more batter. One more change: Devika is out and Yastika come in," Kaur said.
Earlier, there were reports that Kaur and Vastrakar were admitted to a local hospital on the eve of the match due to illness and were discharged in the evening.
India look to go past Asutralia
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.
India's Playing XI:
Shafali Verma, Smriti Mandhana, Jemimah Rodrigues, Harmanpreet Kaur(c), Richa Ghosh(w), Deepti Sharma, Yastika Bhatia, Sneh Rana, Shikha Pandey, Radha Yadav, Renuka Thakur Singh
