India battle Aussies for a place in final

Derby, July 19 

Bolstered by the mammoth 186-run win against New Zealand in their final group game, a confident India will take on heavyweight Australia on Thursday for a place in the final of the women’s World Cup.

Statistics give Australia an upper hand in the contest – in the four ODIs the two sides have played against each other since the last World Cup in 2013, Australia have won three, the latest win came in the group stage of the current World Cup. In the group stage of this edition, Australia won six of their seven games, while India won five.

Going into Thursday’s tie, India will hope for their batters to continue their good run.  Skipper Mithali Raj, Punam Raut, Veda Krishnamurthy and Deepti Sharma have been among runs throughout the tournament. India, though, would be worried about the sharp decline in the form of opener Smriti Mandhana. She started the tournament with a bang, scoring 90 and unbeaten 106 in the first two games against England and West Indies, respectively. However, in the following matches, she was dismissed for 2, 8, 4, 3 and 13. 

As for India’s bowling, all hopes will be pinned on veteran pacer Jhulan Goswami and her partner Shikha Pandey. And then there are spinners who have done a commendable job by taking 36 wickets so far in the tournament.

For Australia, skipper Meg Lanning is the key player. She is among the top run-getters despite missing two games due to shoulder problems. Besides, the opening combo of Nicole Bolton and Beth Mooney is also dangerous. As for their bowling, the young pace duo of Megan Schutt and Ashleigh Gardner could hurt India with the new ball. — Agencies