Mumbai: After suffering a 32-run loss against defending champions England, the Mithali Raj-led Indian team will have to pull up their socks before locking horns with Sri Lanka in a must-win game for both the teams in ICC Women’s World Cup at the Brabourne Stadium here on Tuesday.
With all the teams in Group A having won a match each, the hosts will try to keep their dreams afloat in the series by winning the crucial league game if they want to qualify for the knock-out stages.
After a comprehensive 105-run win against West Indies in the opener, the India struggled to chase down England’s target of 272 on Sunday.
Sri Lanka, on the other hand, had caused the biggest upset of the tournament with their last-ball win against England but in their second match they lost to West Indies by 209 runs, also on Sunday.
A record opening wicket stand of 175 between India’s first-ever World Cup centurion Murugesan Tirushkamini and Poonam Raut, set up a huge total for the hosts to defend against the Caribbean island side in the first game and India will hope the openers provide them a good platform, after failing against England.
With vice-captain Harmanpreet Kaur notching up her maiden century (107 not out) in the previous game, India’s middle order will be bolstered, although other players have to support her.
India has maintained a clean sheet against Sri Lanka in their 17 matches so far, winning 16 of them, while one was a no result. However, India are in no mood to take their neighbours lightly in the day/night fixture.
“If we have to go inside the Super Six, next game is do or die for us. We are not going to take Sri Lanka lightly because on such wickets especially, it could be anybody’s game. They have done well against England. I am hoping that our team puts on a good effort as usual,” Mithali said. (PTI)