Women's T20 WC: India win toss, choose to bat first against Australia in must-win clash

London [UK], June 28 (ANI): India Women won the toss and opted to bat first against Australia Women in the last group-stage encounter of the ICC Women's T20 World Cup 2026.

Notably, the match comes as a do-or-die fixture for the Women in Blue as they must get a win to progress to the semi-finals of the World Cup.

At present, Australia Women and South Africa Women lead the Group A points table. A win would see India draw level with South Africa on points, but India would move ahead of the second-placed Proteas Women due to a superior Net Run Rate.

After winning the toss, Harmanpreet Kaur said India will bat first in an important match, aiming to play freely. She confirmed one change in the playing 11, with Kranti Gaud replacing Nandni Sharma, noting the pitch suits her. She added that the team is looking to stay positive and enjoy the game with a fresh mindset.

"Going to bat first. Very important game for us, we thought let's just bat freely. One change. Kranti back in place of Nandni. These kind of pitches suit her. It's a fresh day, fresh mind. Today is the day to enjoy ourselves," she said at the toss presentation.

Australia captain Sophie Molineux said Australia had planned to bowl first. She also confirmed one change, with Phoebe Litchfield returning to the playing 11 in place of Alana King, citing conditions and tactical matchups.

"Actually we were going to have a bowl. Pheebs is back in, Alana King is missing out. Just conditions and matchups," she said.

India vs Australia Women T20 WC 2026 playing 11s:

India Women: Smriti Mandhana, Shafali Verma, Yastika Bhatia, Harmanpreet Kaur(c), Jemimah Rodrigues, Richa Ghosh(w), Deepti Sharma, Radha Yadav, Shree Charani, Renuka Singh Thakur, Kranti Gaud.

Australia Women: Beth Mooney(w), Georgia Voll, Phoebe Litchfield, Ellyse Perry, Ashleigh Gardner, Georgia Wareham, Annabel Sutherland, Nicola Carey, Sophie Molineux(c), Kim Garth, Lucy Hamilton. (ANI)

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