Defending champions Australia take on Sri Lanka on Oct 5
Six-time champions of the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup, Australia, will begin their campaign by taking on Sri Lanka on Saturday at Sharjah. While the Aussies would look to continue their dominance in this marquee tournament, the Chamari Athapaththu led side will have their task cut out as they find themselves in a virtual do or die situation, having lost to Pakistan on Thursday.
Head-to-Head
Australia and Sri Lanka have played seven T20Is against each other, and Australia have won all of them. Of these seven matches, three were played during the ICC Women’s T20 World Cups.
Squads
Australia: Alyssa Healy (c), Darcie Brown, Ash Gardner, Kim Garth, Grace Harris, Alana King, Phoebe Litchfield, Tahlia McGrath (vc), Sophie Molineux, Beth Mooney, Ellyse Perry, Megan Schutt, Annabel Sutherland, Tayla Vlaeminck, Georgia Wareham
Sri Lanka: Chamari Athapaththu (c), Anushka Sanjeewani, Harshitha Madhavi, Nilakshika de Silva, Inoka Ranaweera, Hasini Perera, Kavisha Dilhari, Sachini Nisansala, Vishmi Gunaratne, Udeshika Prabodhani, Achini Kulasuriya, Sugandika Kumari, Inoshi Priyadharshani, Shashini Gimhani, Ama Kanchana.
Players to watch out
Beth Mooney: This Australia’s left-handed opening batter is world number one batter in the current ICC rankings. In this calendar year, the southpaw has packed a punch with 350 runs in 12 T20Is at a strike rate of 121 and average of close to 40.
Megan Schutt: This right-arm pace sensation of Australia is the most successful bowler of the side with 137 wickets in 112 T20I innings. She has some lethal inswingers in her repertoire and can be destructive with the new ball.
Chamari Athapaththu: The Sri Lankan captain has hit three centuries in T20Is, of which one has come against the Australia. After missing out on scoring big in her previous match against Pakistan, this left-handed opening batter will be itching to make a mark. Besides, she will take a lot of confidence from her bowling effort against Pakistan when she picked three wickets.
Sugandika Kumari: This left-arm spinner of Sri Lanka gave a perfect start to her team in the last encounter against Pakistan when she struck twice inside the powerplay. She finished with the impressive figures of 3/19 in four overs.
Weather
The weather is expected to be sunny and warm, with temperature of around 38 degrees Celsius.
Match details
Date: October 5, 2024
Time: 3:30 PM
Venue: Sharjah Cricket Stadium
Live streaming: Star Sports Network, Disney + Hotstar