India Eye Maiden Women's T20 WC Title, Face Defending Champions Australia

Indian women's cricket team will face defending champions Australia at the iconic Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) on Sunday as they look to win their maiden T20 World Cup title. India and Australia had kick started the Women's T20 World Cup on February 21, a match where the hosts suffered their only loss in the tournament. India maintained an unbeaten record in the group stages that helped them enter their first-ever T20 World Cup final despite their semi-final clash against England being called-off without a ball bowled in Sydney. Australia, who will be featuring in their seventh T20 World Cup final, had defeated South Africa in a rain-affected second semi-final on Thursday to make it to another final in the tournament's history.

The MCG will be packed on Sunday as more than 75,000 tickets have been sold for the all-important final between India and Australia.

If Meg Lanning manages to get the better of India in the final, she could become the third Australian captain to lift a World Cup trophy at home. Michael Clarke in 2015 and Lyn Larsen in 1988 had won the One-Day International (ODI) World Cup in Australia.

For Harmanpreet Kaur, it will be her first final as captain of a global tournament.

Teenager Shafali Verma has been the standout performer for Team India. Shafali, 16, has hit 161 runs in four innings at an impressive strike rate of over 160.

With the ball, Poonam Yadav's slow leg-spinners have caused problems for the opposition batters. Poonam is the joint-highest wicket taker in the tournament along with Australia's Megan Schutt. Both bowlers have picked up nine wickets each in the tournament.

Australia will take the field on Sunday without their star all-rounder Ellyse Perry who had suffered a hamstring injury in a group stage match against New Zealand.

Squads:

India women's squad: Harmanpreet Kaur (capt), Taniya Bhatia (wk), Shafali Verma, Smriti Mandhana, Jemimah Rodrigues, Deepti Sharma, Veda Krishnamurthy, Shikha Pandey, Radha Yadav, Poonam Yadav, Rajeshwari Gayakwad, Pooja Vastrakar, Harleen Deol, Arundhati Reddy, Richa Ghosh

Australia women's squad: Meg Lanning (capt), Erin Burns, Nicola Carey, Ashleigh Gardner, Rachael Haynes (vice-capt), Alyssa Healy (wk), Ellyse Perry, Jess Jonassen, Delissa Kimmince, Sophie Molineux, Beth Mooney, Megan Schutt, Annabel Sutherland, Tayla Vlaeminck, Georgia Wareham.

Match starts at 12:30pm IST.

Topics mentioned in this article

India Women Australia Women Harmanpreet Kaur Meg Lanning Melbourne Cricket Ground Women's T20 World Cup India Women vs Australia Women, Final Cricket