Shafali Verma replaces Deepti Sharma as Australia opt to bowl with rain looming

Darcie Brown comes in for Annabel Sutherland in high-stakes clash

Toss Australia Women chose to bowl vs India Women

Unless rain plays spoilsport, the rematch of the 2017 ODI World Cup semi-final promises fireworks at the 2022 edition at Eden Park, where six-time champions Australia have opted to bowl against India. Both teams have rung in one change each: the big-hitting India teen Shafali Verma replaces allrounder Deepti Sharma while Annabel Sutherland makes way for fellow Australia quick Darcie Brown.

Only a win for India can delay undefeated Australia’s entry into the semi-finals, while a loss would further dent, though not entirely wipe out, India’s chances of qualifying. A no-result will leave Australia at the top of the table, while India will remain in fourth place.

With rain forecast for the day, Australia captain Meg Lanning saw merit in chasing on the fresh surface at Eden Park in Auckland, which is hosting its first game of the tournament. Mithali Raj said she, too, would have liked to bowl first. However, with batting reinforcements coming in in the form of Verma, who was given a “break” for the last three games following a string of low scores, the India captain hoped her side would be able to bring their “A game” on Saturday.

Australia head coach Matthew Mott said on match eve the Eden Park strip is expected to be “fast bouncy”, which will mean that the teams will rely heavily on their quicks, especially in the powerplay. Brown, who was left out of the XI against West Indies in favour of Sutherland, will have a major role to play in the first 10 overs. For India, their pace spearhead, Jhulan Goswami, who was handed her 200th ODI cap by Raj, the only other woman with as many appearances in the format, will shoulder new-ball duties with Meghna Singh.

The last time the two times met in a world tournament, Alyssa Healy and Beth Mooney, both part of the XI on Saturday, srcripted history for Australia at the MCG, in the 2020 T20 World Cup final. But India are hoping their performance on the 2021 tour of Australia, where they ran hosts Australia close in the three-ODI leg of a multiformat series, holds them in good stead as they look for a third win in this World Cup.

India: 1 Smriti Mandhana, 2 Shafali Verma, 3 Yastika Bhatia, 4 Mithali Raj (capt), 5 Harmanpreet Kaur, 6 Sneh Rana, 7 Richa Ghosh (wk), 8 Pooja Vastrakar, 9 Jhulan Goswami, 10 Meghna Singh, 11 Rajeshwari Gayakwad

Australia: 1 Alyssa Healy (wk), 2 Rachael Haynes, 3 Meg Lanning (capt), 4 Ellyse Perry, 5 Beth Mooney, 6 Tahlia McGrath, 7 Ashleigh Gardner, 8 Jess Jonassen, 9 Alana King, 10 Megan Schutt, 11 Darcie Brown

Annesha Ghosh is a sub-editor at ESPNcricinfo. @ghosh_annesha

This article was originally published by Espncricinfo.com. Read the original article here.

Shafali Verma replaces Deepti Sharma as Australia opt to bowl with rain looming

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