🏏ICC Women's T20I WC 2024: Group A: M 19- PakW vs NZW, Page 70🏏 - Page 9

India won both of their warm-up games before the start of the tournament, and have settled on the answer to selection conundrum - with Harmanpreet Kaur set to bat at No. 3. There are decisions to be made at the top of the order for New Zealand, too, with Sophie Devine set to be deployed in the middle order, in order to finish off games, at the expense of her power at the top

Matthew: "Kiwi here. Not that confident we can get into the KO stage. We've got the elements to make a competitive team, they've just not been coming together at all. Hard to see that changing in a pressure cooker like a WC. "

And Raji is nervous, too: "I'm a bit concerned about Kaur batting at 3. They need someone experienced at the end for when things don't go as planned, especially since she tends to perform well in big tournaments. It really depends on when Kaur comes in"

NZ won the toss and will bat first

New Zealand Women have won the toss and have opted to bat

Sophie Devine | NZ Captain: We're going to bat first. I've been really happy about the way the team's gone about it's business. Results haven't gone our way but we're always learnig. Looking to put our best foot forward in this one. It's going to be slower, there's still runs in it. Still opportunity to be attacking.

New Zealand Women (Playing XI) - Suzie Bates, Georgia Plimmer, Melie Kerr, Sophie Devine (C), Brooke Halliday, Maddy Green, Izzy Gaze (WK), Jess Kerr, Rosemary Mair, Lea Tahuhu, Eden Carson.

India Women (Playing XI) - Smriti Mandhana, Shafali Verma, Harmanpreet Kaur (C), Jemimah Rodrigues, Richa Ghosh (WK), Deepti Sharma, Pooja Vastrakar, Arundhati Reddy, Shreyanka Patil, Asha Sobhana, Renuka Singh Thakur

Teams:

India Women (Playing XI): Shafali Verma, Smriti Mandhana, Harmanpreet Kaur(c), Jemimah Rodrigues, Richa Ghosh(w), Deepti Sharma, Arundhati Reddy, Pooja Vastrakar, Shreyanka Patil, Asha Sobhana, Renuka Thakur Singh

New Zealand Women (Playing XI): Suzie Bates, Georgia Plimmer, Amelia Kerr, Sophie Devine(c), Brooke Halliday, Maddy Green, Isabella Gaze(w), Jess Kerr, Rosemary Mair, Lea Tahuhu, Eden Carson

Harmanpreet Kaur | IND Captain: We just want to go out there and play good cricket. All the players back themselves. It's the best team and the best team we have in this format. We have a balanced side. We have a long batting line-up as well. It's all about going out there and enjoying ourselves.

New Zealand Women have won the toss and have opted to bat

Pitch report: "It has cooled down slightly, breeze flowing across the ground might mean dew might not come in. 63m and 53m square boundaries, 73m down the ground. This is firm, lot of live grass. Should be moderate pace and bounce. There could be some spin later but if there's dew, that probably won't happen as well" suggest Nasser Hussain and WV Raman.

NZ win the toss and bat, Devine says the "pitch won't change too much, we want first crack". NZ have gone with Georgia Plimmer opening alongside Suzie Bates, and have banked on their seamers, with three specialists alongside Devine, and Eden Carson and Amelia Kerr covering spin. Of their recent form, Devine says NZ "are trending in the right direction. It's a clean slate at this tournament and looking forward to putting our best foot forward." Harmanpreet isn't perturbed by having to field first, with temperatures cooling for this evening game. "Our players are fearless, want to take the aggressive option," she says. "We have a balanced side, all about us going out and enjoying ourselves." Arundhati Reddy joins a three-woman seam attack, while Asha Sobhana's legspin also wins a spot

India: 1 Smriti Mandhana, 2 Shafali Verma, 3 Harmanpreet Kaur (capt), 4 Jemimah Rodrigues, 5 Richa Ghosh (wk), 6 Deepti Sharma, 7 Arundhati Reddy, 8 Pooja Vastrakar, 9 Shreyanka Patil, 10 Asha Sobhana, 11 Renuka Singh

New Zealand: 1 Suzie Bates, 2 Georgia Plimmer, 3 Amelia Kerr, 4 Sophie Devine (capt), 5 Brooke Halliday, 6 Maddy Green, 7 Isabella Gaze (wk), 8 Jess Kerr, 9 Rosemary Mair, 10 Lea Tahuhu, 11 Eden Carson

Vastrakar to Bates, FOUR, to backward square leg

Bates and Plimmer are at the crease. Bates is on strike. Vastrakar will open the attack

Vishal: "Absolutely surprised by NZ Decision to bat considering how potent the dew is in Dubai, or do they have any trick up their sleeve?" --- Nasser Hussain mentioned on air that the groundstaff think the dew won't set in tonight because of the breeze

NZ--4/0