Women's tri-nation series: India look to improve fielding as they take on Australia

The Indian women's team will look for an improved show in the fielding department to complement its fine bowling when it takes on Australia in its second game of the tri-series here on Sunday. India is on top of the points table after the Harmapreet Kaur-led side beat England by five wickets in the tournament opener on Friday.

India put up a fine bowling performance, led by their spinners, to restrict England to 147, which was followed by a match-winning unbeaten 42-run knock by skipper Harmanpreet.

In the bating department, the top four including young Shafali Verma, Smriti Mandhana, Jemimah Rodrigues and Harmapreet were all among runs, but the middle order comprising Veda Krishnamurthy and Taniya Bhatia struggled.

However, India was far from impressive when it came to fielding with Harmanpreet, Jemimah and Veda dropping catches, apart from misfields, and the side will look to quickly pull up their socks.

"I'm really happy that our young players could play with freedom. We have to work hard on our fielding. We need to improve." Harmanpreet had said after the match.

Defending T20 world champions Australia, on the other hand, will be desperate to bounce back after going down to England in a thrilling game that was decided via a Super Over on Saturday.

The Australian bowlers remained largely unsuccessful against England as only opener Beth Mooney starred with the bat.

The home side will take confidence form the fact that India had lost both their matches against them in the tri-nation T20 series in 2018.

Squads:

Australia Women Squad: Alyssa Healy, Beth Mooney, Ashleigh Gardner, Meg Lanning (capt), Ellyse Perry, Rachael Haynes, Jess Jonassen, Delissa Kimmince, Annabel Sutherland, Georgia Wareham, Megan Schutt, Nicola Carey, Sophie Molineux, Erin Burns, Tayla Vlaeminck

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

(Picture Credits: @theinfluencermarketingfactory/Unsplash)