Women’s Asia Cup: Harmanpreet, Pooja rested as India opt to bat first against Nepal
Dambulla, July 23 (IANS/WISHAVWARTA) India stand-in captain Smriti Mandhana won the toss and opted to bat first against Nepal in a Group A match of the Women’s Asia Cup here on Tuesday. India have rested regular skipper Harmanpreet Kaur and pacer Pooja Vastrakar for the encounter. S. Sajana and Arundhati Reddy come in for the duo in India’s playing 11. “We’d like to bat first today. In the last few years, T20 cricket has changed. It’s a collective effort, we’ve looked to take on whatever is in our range. The outfields are quick, the tracks are flat, and sometimes even 200 isn’t enough. We’ll look to trust our process and look to bat. 180 will be great, it’s about playing one ball at a time. Harman and Pooja are resting,” Mandhana said at the toss. On the other hand, Nepal captain Indu Barma confirmed two changes in her team. “We are ready for both. We have some youngsters who are keen to get into the contest. We are ready for every challenge; we look to give our 100%. We have two changes,” she said. Playing XIs: India Women: Shafali Verma, Smriti Mandhana(c), Dayalan Hemalatha, Jemimah Rodrigues, Richa Ghosh(w), Deepti Sharma, S Sajana, Radha Yadav, Tanuja Kanwar, Renuka Thakur Singh, Arundhati Reddy. Nepal Women: Samjhana Khadka, Sita Rana Magar, Kabita Kunwar, Indu Barma (c), Dolly Bhatta, Rubina Chhetry, Puja Mahato, Kabita Joshi, Kajal Shrestha(w), Sabnam Rai, Bindu Rawal. —
