Hobart, February 27 – India won the toss and chose to bat first against Australia in the second One Day International (ODI) at the Bellerive Oval on Friday. The multi-format scoreline is currently tied at 4-4 after Australia won the first ODI at the Allan Border Field in Brisbane.
India has opted to rest Shafali Verma and Renuka Singh Thakur, with Amanjot Kaur included, and left-arm spinner Vaishnavi Sharma making her ODI debut in an attempt to strengthen their bowling attack.
For India, captain Harmanpreet Kaur, who has won her fifth consecutive toss in ODIs, is fit to play after sitting out for India's entire fielding innings in Brisbane due to a left knee issue. "I'm fine now, my left knee...I just had a minor niggle while playing," she said.
Australia made one change – bringing in Nicola Carey, who is based in Hobart, for Sophie Molineux, who has been ruled out of the series due to a lower back injury. A statement from Cricket Australia (CA) said that Sophie will be monitored ahead of Australia's tour of the West Indies next month.
This is a worrying aspect for Australia, as the injury-prone Sophie is set to take over as full-time captain across all formats in the West Indies. "Getting the first opportunity with the ball on a wicket with some grass might help us. We know if we can do it right, we can restrict them, and it's not an easy place to defend scores," said captain Alyssa Healy.
Playing XIs:
India: Smriti Mandhana, Pratika Rawal, Harmanpreet Kaur (captain), Jemimah Rodrigues, Amanjot Kaur, Richa Ghosh (wk), Deepti Sharma, Kashvee Gautam, N Sree Charani, Kranti Gaud, and Vaishnavi Sharma
Australia: Alyssa Healy (captain), Phoebe Litchfield, Georgia Voll, Beth Mooney (wk), Annabel Sutherland, Ashleigh Gardner, Tahlia McGrath, Nicola Carey, Alana King, Megan Schutt, and Darcie Brown
