Deadline: March 5, 2020 at 9:30 AM IST
Venue: Sydney Cricket Ground, Sydney
Pitch report
The average first and second innings scores at the SCG read over 170 in the recently concluded Australian T20 tournament.
Although the pitch significantly favours the spinners, the pacers will get more swing than usual due to rain.
Fantasy team
We have opted for a fantasy team on the basis of players’ impact, recent performances, and credit points.
You can also check players’ performances in the last 5 matches. Tap on the players’ images to get the data while making your fantasy team.
Wicketkeepers: Amy Jones
Batters: Shafali Verma (c), Jemimah Rodrigues, Smriti Mandhana, Heather Knight
All-rounders: Deepti Sharma, Shikha Pandey, Harmanpreet Kaur, Natalie Sciver
Bowlers: Poonam Pandey, Anya Shrubsole
NOTE: Pick your fantasy cricket team wisely.
Power players
One reduces the opposition to a punching bag, while the other smothers them with slow and deadly leg-spin. Shafali Verma and Poonam Yadav have been the golden girls for India in the tournament: Shafali has blasted 161 with a strike rate of 161 and Poonam tops the bowling charts with 9 wickets at 9.8.
Natalie Sciver has scored 3 fifties in 4 matches, acing the batting charts. Her 202 runs have come at a stunning average of 67.3. Her captain Heather Knight is at the second spot with 193 runs.
No bowler, who has more than 3 wickets, has an economy of under 4 RPO. Sophie Ecclestone, the second-highest wicket-taker, has conceded runs at 3.23.
Value picks
Before the T20 World Cup, Smriti Mandhana‘s last 5 scores read 15, 35, 45, 55, and 66. She has been India’s best limited-overs batter in the past 3 years and a dip in form shouldn’t bother her. She can explode anytime.
It was Anya Shrubsole‘s six-wicket haul that crushed India’s dreams of winning a World Cup in the 2017 edition at Lord’s. In the ongoing tournament she has managed 8 wickets at 10.6 and is at the peak of her form.
Radha Yadav has not gone wicketless in her last 23 T20Is. Against Sri Lanka, she registered her best bowling figures of 4 for 23.
Jemimah Rodrigues and Deepti Sharma have been India’s go-to players in times of trouble. The duo is brilliant at running between the wickets, eventually keeping the scorecard ticking. Deepti’s ability to smother the batters with her off-spin makes her even more valuable in fantasy cricket.
Probable XIs
India: Smriti Mandhana, Shafali Verma, Jemimah Rodrigues, Harmanpreet Kaur (c), Deepti Sharma, Veda Krishnamurthy, Taniya Bhatia (wk), Shikha Pandey, Radha Yadav, Rajeshwari Gayakwad, Poonam Yadav
England: Danielle Wyatt, Tammy Beaumont, Natalie Sciver, Heather Knight (c), Fran Wilson, Amy Ellen Jones (wk), Katherine Brunt, Anya Shrubsole, Mady Villiers/Freya Davies, Sophie Ecclestone, Sarah Glenn
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