India women's national cricket team would look to set a match-winning target against Australia in the tour finale at Dr DY Patil Sports Academy, Navi Mumbai on Tuesday. Visiting captain Alyssa Healy, who's making her 150th T20I appearance, won the toss and wasted no time in opting to bowl on a top which has historically favoured chasing teams. India are looking to win a T20I series against Australia for the first time since 2016. (Streaming | Scorecard)
At the toss, India captain Harmanpreet Kaur said that she was also "looking to bowl" while adding that they "have to work on our batting, there are a few areas we need to improve on. 10-15 runs extra with the bat would have made a huge difference. We have an opportunity to beat them, we'll give our best."
Healy, however, was confident that Australia would "get the best of the conditions with the new ball early. I have been googling dew. It's been one hell of a ride. It's about getting better. Want to get a couple of things right tonight. It has been an enjoyable month for us."
The team chasing have won 12 of 15 completed T20 games at DY Patil Sports Academy. In this series, first innings average scores batting first have been 135 but the chasing teams have registered comfortable wins -- by nine wickets in the first match by India, and by six wickets in the second by Australia.
Both sides are unchanged.
India Women Playing XI: Shafali Verma, Smriti Mandhana, Jemimah Rodrigues, Harmanpreet Kaur (c), Richa Ghosh (wk), Deepti Sharma, Pooja Vastrakar, Amanjot Kaur, Shreyanka Patil, Titas Sadhu, Renuka Thakur Singh.
Australia Women Playing XI: Alyssa Healy (c & wk), Beth Mooney, Tahlia McGrath, Ellyse Perry, Ashleigh Gardner, Phoebe Litchfield, Grace Harris, Annabel Sutherland, Georgia Wareham, Kim Garth, Megan Schutt.
India won the first T20I rather comfortably, by nine wickets. The Aussies hit back in style, beating the hosts by six wickets to level the series 1-1. Before the 20-over series, the two teams engaged in a three-match ODI series and the visitors made it 3-0, for yet another clean sweep in the 50-over format.
But Australia women's tour of India 2023-24 will be remembered for Kaur & Co's historic Test win.
