The 18th match of the 12th edition of the ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup will be played between Australia and India on March 19 at Eden Park in Auckland. While Australia have won all their four matches in this World Cup so far, India have won two out of their four matches.
Match preview
Head to Head
Australia and India have played 49 ODIs against each other, out of which Australia have won 39 and India have won 10.
Squads
Australia: Meg Lanning (captain), Darcie Brown, Nicola Carey, Ashleigh Gardner, Grace Harris, Rachael Haynes, Alyssa Healy, Jess Jonassen, Alana King, Tahlia McGrath, Beth Mooney, Ellyse Perry, Megan Schutt, Annabel Sutherland, Amanda-Jade Wellington
India: Mithali Raj (C), Harmanpreet Kaur (VC), Smriti Mandhana, Shafali Verma, Yastika Bhatia, Deepti Sharma, Richa Ghosh (WK), Sneh Rana, Jhulan Goswami, Pooja Vastrakar, Meghna Singh, Renuka Singh Thakur, Taniya Bhatia (WK), Rajeshwari Gayakwad, Poonam Yadav
Players to watch out for
Ellyse Perry:
This star Australian all-rounder was the player of the match in her last outing against West Indies, thanks to her match-winning bowling performance of 3-22 in eight overs. She also contributed 10 runs off 31 balls in the middle order.
Rachael Haynes:
The left-handed opening batter of Australia top-scored with an unbeaten 83 off 95 balls to power her team to a seven-wicket win over West Indies in the last match. She led the run chase from the front to give a comprehensive win to her side.
Meghna Singh:
This right-arm medium-fast bowler of India was the pick of the bowlers in the last match against England when she scalped 3-26 in 7.2 overs. She is a good outswing bowler and can exploit the conditions with the new ball.
Smriti Mandhana:
The left-handed opening batter of India is the leading run-getter for her side in this World Cup so far. She has scored 216 runs in four matches, including one century, at an average of 54 and a strike rate of close to 80. She will be the key for India.
Pitch
This will be the first match of the 2022 ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup that will be played here. So far, only six women’s ODIs have been played at this venue with the last match being played in the year 2000. The average first innings score is 181 and the average second innings score is 162. Teams batting first and teams batting second have won three matches each.
Weather
The weather is expected to be mostly cloudy and there could be occasional rain. The average temperature will be around 22 degrees Celsius, with an 81 percent chance of precipitation and 86 percent cloud cover. The wind will blow from the north-northeast.
Fantasy playing XI
Alyssa Healy, Richa Ghosh, Rachael Haynes, Smriti Mandhana, Harmanpreet Kaur, Ashleigh Gardner, Ellyse Perry, Sneh Rana, Pooja Vastrakar, Meghna Singh, Alana King
Match Details
Date: March 19, 2022
Time: 6.30 am IST
Venue: Eden Park, Auckland
Live streaming: Star Sports, Disney + Hotstar
Follow Female Cricket on Instagram and Twitter for all the latest news and updates around Women’s Cricket World Cup 2022
I am a former cricketer having represented Mumbai University at All India University level. I was a part of MCA probables for the U-19 and U-23 age group. I have been an avid cricket writer for the last five years. Currently I am pursuing my Ph.D from IIT Bombay.