Australia, the defending champions and six-time Women’s T20I World Cup winners, are once again heavy tournament favourites as they kick off their title defence at the 2024 ICC Women’s T20 World Cup by taking on Sri Lanka in their first game.
Before one of the game’s greatest-ever teams take the pitch, here’s our match preview.
Alyssa Healy is leading this power-packed side this time round, having taken over the captaincy from Meg Lanning. Australia not only have plenty of talent but a lot of experience as well; Ellyse Perry, case in point, will be taking part in her sixth T20I World Cup.
Australia’s biggest advantage over the other teams is that most of their batters are also more than handy with the ball, giving Healy a host of options. While the skipper, Perry, and Beth Mooney will be key with the bat early on, Ashleigh Gardner and Tahlia McGrath will be crucial towards the end overs with their lower-order firepower.
The Aussies head into their first match high on confidence, having taken down the West Indies and arch-rivals England in their warm-up games in clinical fashion.
On the other hand, Sri Lanka come into their second game of the tournament after suffering a heavy defeat against Pakistan. In a low-scoring game, the Lankans had bowled out Pakistan for 116, with Udeshika Prabodhani, Sugandika Kumari, and Chamari Athapaththu being the chief wreckers with three wickets each. With the bat, though, it was a complete collapse from them, with only openers Vishmi Gunaratne and Nilakshika Silva getting to double digits. Sri Lanka managed only 85 in their 20 overs and lost by 31 runs, taking a heavy net run rate hit as well.
The opening games at this World Cup have shown that we will be in for low-scoring games more often than not, with spinners playing a key role. Given how Sri Lanka struggled against the Pak spinners, they are in for another tough outing against the mighty Australians.
Expect Australia to come out on top, with the likes of Alana King and Gardner all set to spin a web around the Lankan Lionesses.
Alyssa Healy, Beth Mooney, Chamari Athapaththu, Harshitha Samarawickrama, Ellyse Perry, Ashleigh Gardner, Georgia Wareham, Kavisha Dilhari, Udeshika Prabodhani, Annabel Sutherland, Sugandika Kumari
Venue: Sharjah
Winners Prediction: Australia
Also read: ICC Women’s T20 World Cup 2024 Sponsors
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