The inaugural match of the Common Wealth Games Women’s Cricket Competition 2022 will start from July 29 Friday, in Birmingham and Indian women will fight against Australia in the opening match at Edgbaston. The matches will be in the T20 format where eight teams divided into two groups compete with each other for the gold medal.
The Women in Blue belongs to Group-A which features three other teams; Australia, Pakistan, and Barbados (the representative team for West Indies). Group-B features England, New Zealand, South Africa, and Sri Lanka.
Team India will face their arch-rival Pakistan on July 31, Sunday after the battle against Australia. India’s last group game will be against Barbados on 3rd August, Wednesday.
It is for the first time in history that Common Wealth Games included Women’s Cricket in the category of games. Every cricket-playing nation sent their women to the UK event.
Team India, under the leadership of Harmanpreet Kaur, left for Birmingham to take part in the opening game of the competition on Friday. Smriti Mandhana will be Kaur’s deputy. Kaur and her squad are full in form following their T20I and ODI series victories against Sri Lanka and they set their sight on the gold medal. India will be proud of the powerful women’s squad if they succeed to win the debut Common Wealth Cricket Gold medal.
Players like Harmanpreet Kaur, Shafali Verma, Smriti Mandhana, Meghna Singh, and Rajeshwari Gayakwad may play a vital role in the matches.
Indians can enjoy another rivalry match between Indian women and Pakistan women at the Common Wealth Games in England. The match will take place at Edgbaston Cricket Ground at 3.30 pm. With players like Bismah Mahroof, Muneeba Ali, Omaima Sohail, and Fatima Sana, Pakistan will exposit a good game against India.
This is the second appearance of cricket in the multi-nation tournament after 1998 when the men’s squad played with South Africa winning the gold medal.
The host England and New Zealand will complete the group matches on August 4 and the knock-out matches will be played on August 6 and 7.
India squad
Harmanpreet Kaur (c), Smriti Mandhana, Shafali Verma, Sabbhineni Meghana, Taniya Sapna Bhatia, Yastika Bhatia, Deepti Sharma, Rajeshwari Gayakwad, Meghna Singh, Pooja Vastrakar, Renuka Thakur, Radha Yadav, Jemimah Rodrigues, Harleen Deol, Sneh Rana.
Australia squad
Meg Lanning ©, Rachael Haynes, Darcie Brown, Nicola Carey, Ashleigh Gardner, Grace Harris, Alyssa Healy, Alana King, Jess Jonassen, Tahlia McGrath, Ellyse Perry, Beth Mooney, Megan Schutt, Annabel Sutherland, Amanda-Jade Wellington
Barbados squad
Hayley Matthews (c), Aaliyah Alleyne, Shanika Bruce, Shaunte Carrington, Shai Carrington, Shamilia Connell, Deandra Dottin, Trishan Holder, Kycia Knight, Keila Elliott, Kyshona Knight, Alisa Scantlebury, Tiffany Thorpe, Shakera Selman, Aaliyah Williams
England squad
Heather Knight (c), Nat Sciver, Maia Bouchier, Alice Capsey, Kate Cross, Katherine Brunt, Freya Davies, Sophie Ecclestone, Sarah Glenn, Sophia Dunkley, Amy Jones, Freya Kemp, Issy Wong, Bryony Smith, Danni Wyatt
Pakistan squad
Bismah Maroof (c), Muneeba Ali, Anam Amin, Diana Baig, Nida Dar, Aiman Anwer, Gull Feroza, Kainat Imtiaz, Sadia Iqbal, Tuba Hassan, Iram Javed, Ayesha Naseem, Fatima Sana, Aliya Riaz, Omaima Sohail
New Zealand squad
Sophie Devine (c), Suzie Bates, Izzy Gaze, Claudia Green, Eden Carson, Maddy Green, Brooke Halliday, Hayley Jensen, Amelia Kerr, Fran Jonas, Rosemary Mair, Jess McFadyen, Hannah Rowe, Georgia Plimmer, Lea Tahuhu
Sri Lanka squad
Chamari Athapaththu (c), Nilakshi de Silva, Vishmi Gunaratne, Ama Kanchana, Kavisha Dilhari, Achini Kulasuriya, Hasini Perera, Udeshika Prabodhani, Sugandika Kumari, Oshadi Ranasinghe, Harshitha Samarawickrama, Inoka Ranaweera, Anushka Sanjeewani, Rashmi Silva, Malsha Shehani
South Africa squad
Suné Luus (c), Anneke Bosch, Lara Goodall, Sinalo Jafta, Trisha Chetty, Ayabonga Khaka, Masabata Klaas, Nonkululeko Mlaba, Nadine de Klerk, Mignon du Preez, Shabnim Ismail, Chloe Tryon, Tumi Sekhukhune, Laura Wolvaardt
India match schedule in IST:
- July 29, Friday – Australia Women vs India Women, 4:30 pm
- July 31, Sunday – India Women vs Pakistan Women, 4:30 pm
- August 3, Wednesday – Barbados Women vs India Women, 11:30 pm
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