A grey, blustery morning at Lord’s greeted Harmanpreet Kaur when she called correctly and, without much fuss, chose to bat. India have no other option, really: two points adrift of both Australia and South Africa in Group 1, they must win to sneak into the semi-finals on net run-rate. At 2.268, that figure is already comfortably ahead of South Africa’s 0.633, so victory, however narrow, should be enough.
Australia, unbeaten so far with a towering NRR of 4.724, are effectively through whatever happens this afternoon. South Africa, having edged Bangladesh on this very strip earlier, will spend the next few hours willing the Australians on – the Proteas only progress if India fall short.
India’s solitary change is straightforward: off-spinning all-rounder Kranti Gaud replaces seamer Nandani Sharma. Harmanpreet admitted yesterday that India “needed a touch more batting without blunting the attack”, and Gaud offers exactly that balance.
The Australians welcome back Phoebe Litchfield, whose quad strain kept her out of the last three matches. She smashed a 24-ball fifty in the tournament opener against South Africa and slots in for leg-spinner Alana King. With the extra batter in, captain Sophie Molineux will juggle seven bowling options: Lucy Hamilton, Kim Garth, Nicola Carey and Annabel Sutherland with the seam; herself, Georgia Wareham and Ash Gardner with spin.
Conditions could dictate plenty. The surface is the same one on which South Africa hunted down 118 earlier, and there was lavish new-ball swing throughout. Square boundaries stretch 58 m one side, 65 m the other, but heavy cloud remains stitched over St John’s Wood; bowlers will fancy another good hour or two.
Teams
Australia: Beth Mooney (wk), Georgia Voll, Phoebe Litchfield, Ellyse Perry, Ashleigh Gardner, Georgia Wareham, Annabel Sutherland, Nicola Carey, Sophie Molineux (capt), Lucy Hamilton, Kim Garth.
India: Shafali Verma, Smriti Mandhana, Yastika Bhatia, Jemimah Rodrigues, Harmanpreet Kaur (capt), Richa Ghosh (wk), Deepti Sharma, Radha Yadav, Kranti Gaud, Renuka Singh, N Shree Charani.
