Visakhapatnam, Oct 12 Australia captain Alyssa Healy won the toss and elected to bowl first against India in the crucial Match 13 of the ICC Women's ODI World Cup at ACA-VDCA Stadium here on Sunday.
Australia made one change in their Playing XI, bringing in left-arm spinner Sophie Molineux in place of Georgia Wareham, which looks like an attempt to exploit the Indian batters' perceived weakness against left-arm spin bowling.
India decided to go in with the same squad that went down to South Africa on Thursday.
Healy said the conditions influenced her decision to bowl first, as dew could be a factor in this match in the second innings.
"Got dewy last evening while training. Hopefully can slide on the bat. Just one change. Molineux is back and Wareham misses out. Nice to have Soph back. At some point during World Cups, you just need to get what needs to be done and get the win. But when you come up against a really good opposition like India, you need to put everything together. My first time back in Vizag since 2011. Should be a great atmosphere. Got a bit of Aussie support," she said.
India captain Harmanpreet Kaur had no issue with batting first, as she felt the pitch looked better than the one they played South Africa on.
The two sides have a rich history of rivalry, with a recent three-ODI series ending 2-1 in favour of the Aussies, but the matches were quite close. Alyssa Healy's side were bundled out for 190, losing by 102 runs. Australia had racked up 412 runs in the series decider, and India came close with 369 in 47 overs.
Playing XIs:
India: Smriti Mandhana, Pratika Rawal, Harleen Deol, Harmanpreet Kaur (capt), Jemimah Rodrigues, Deepti Sharma, Richa Ghosh (wk), Amanjot Kaur, Sneh Rana, Kranti Gaud, N. Shree Charani
Australia: Alyssa Healy (capt & wk), Phoebe Litchfield, Ellyse Perry, Beth Mooney, Annabel Sutherland, Ashleigh Gardner, Tahila McGrath, Sophie Molineux, Kim Garth, Alana King, Megan Schutt
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