India vs Sri Lanka, ICC Women's T20 World Cup: Melbourne weather, Junction Oval pitch report

Image Credits: Twitter/@cricketworldcup

Having already secured a semi-final berth at the International Cricket Council (ICC) Women's T20 World Cup, the Indian women's cricket team will look to improve their batting woes when they take on Sri Lanka in the final Group A clash of the showpiece event at the Junction Oval in Melbourne on Saturday. 

The Women in Blue had earlier booked their place in the last-four of the ongoing marquee event after registering a narrow three-run victory over New Zealand in their last clash at the same venue. 

Asked to bat first, 16-year-old Shafali Verma once again showcased a decent performance with the bat as she notched up crucial 46 runs off just 34 balls to help India set a total of 133 for eight. 

In reply, Deepti Sharma, Shikha Pandey, Rajeshwari Gayakwad, Poonam Yadav and Radha Yadav all chipped in with a wicket each to help their side restrict the White Ferns to 130 for 6 in their stipulated 20 overs. 

Notably, India are unbeaten in the tournament so far, having registered back-to-back wins against Australia, Bangladesh and New Zealand. 

In all their previous three outings, India had failed to put up a big total on the scoreboard. So, they would definitely like to improve their batting performance ahead of the semi-final clash. 

Sri Lanka, on the other hand, are out of the race to the semi-final after slumping to back-to-back defeats at the hands of New Zealand and hosts Australia. Going into the upcoming clash, Sri Lanka will play for pride.

As far as weather is concerned, Melbourne is likely to witness partly cloudy sky with 20 percent chances of a light shower during the early morning. However, the weather is expected to turn sunny after 10:00 a.m onwards and as a result, both the teams could expect a full match being played--according to the Bureau of Meteorology which is Australia's national weather, climate and water agency.

Meanwhile, the pitch at Junction Oval has a history of being batter friendly and even big scores can be chased easily. However, the pitch used in the the previous match was slow and sluggish with stroke-making becoming difficult. 

Therefore, the batsmen of the two teams could face trial by spin and there could be a possibility of a low-scoring clash. 

The two squads are as follows:

India Women: Harmanpreet Kaur (Captain), Taniya Bhatia, Harleen Deol, Rajeshwari Gayakwad, Richa Ghosh, Veda Krishnamurthy, Smriti Mandhana, Shikha Pandey, Poonam Yadav, Arundhati Reddy, Jemimah Rodrigues, Shafali Verma, Deepti Sharma, Pooja Vastrakar, Radha Yadav.

Sri Lanka Women: Chamari Atapattu (Captain), Harshitha Madavi, Nilakshi de Silva, Kavisha Dilhari, Ama Kanchana, Hansima Karunaratne, Achini Kulasuriya, Sugandika Kumari, Hasini Perera, Udeshika Prabodhani, Sathya Sandeepani, Anushka Sanjeewani, Shashikala Siriwardene, Dilani Manodara, Umesha Thimashini.