5th T20I: Kamalini makes debut as Sri Lanka elect to bowl in Thiruvananthapuram
Thiruvananthapuram, Dec 30 (IANS) Sri Lanka Women won the toss and elected to bowl first against India in the fifth and final T20I of the series at the Greenfield International Stadium, Thiruvananthapuram.
India are currently leading 4-0 in the five-match series and are in line for a clean sweep. The first two matches were played in Visakhapatnam, while the last three are being played at Thiruvananthapuram.
Gunalan Kamalini is set to make her international debut for India as Smriti Mandhana, Renuka Thakur, Jemimah Rodrigues, and Kranti Goud have been rested. Sneh Rana and Harleen Deol come back in the playing eleven. Kamalini is a 17-year-old top-order batter who also keeps wickets and was part of India’s Under-19 team that won the Women’s T20 World Cup earlier this year. She was Tamil Nadu’s leading run-scorer in the Senior Women’s T20 Trophy earlier this year.
For Sri Lanka, Inoka Ranaweera and Malki Madara are back in the team.
Chamari Athapaththu, Sri Lanka Women’s captain, said, “We will bowl first. We played some good cricket in the last game, so we decided to bowl first. We learnt a lot of things this year. We played against the World Champions. This opportunity will be very good for the youngsters. We will carry the positives into the new year.
Harmanpreet Kaur, India Women’s captain, said, “We were okay to bat first also. It is an important match. So let’s take it that way. How we started this series, that’s exactly how we want to finish. We have two changes: Smriti Mandhana and Renuka Thakur are resting. G. Kamalini makes her debut. Sneh Rana is back.
Playing XIs:
Sri Lanka Women: Hasini Perera, Chamari Athapaththu (c), Imesha Dulani, Harshitha Madavi Samarawickrama (vc), Kavisha Dilhari, Nilakshi de Silva, Rashmika Sewwandi, Kaushani Nuthyangana (wk), Nimasha Madushani, Inoka Ranaweera, Malki Madara
India Women: Shafali Verma, G. Kamalini, Richa Ghosh (wk), Harmanpreet Kaur (c), Harleen Deol, Deepti Sharma, Amanjot Kaur, Sneh Rana, Vaishnavi Sharma, Shree Charani, Arundhati Reddy
