🏏India Women vs Sri Lanka Women, 4th T20I Thiruvananthapuram🏏 - Page 2

Shree Charani: I am really grateful to have been part of the World Cup and whatever I have played. Really looking forward to do good things for India. (Bowling in different conditions) Sticking to my strengths. Whatever Harman di or Amol sir or Avi sir (Aavishkar Salvi) told me, I just try to stick to whatever they say. (Adaptations between formats) I don't do much different, only pace variations maybe. Everything else will be the same. (On the 2026 Women's T20 World Cup) Really looking forward to it, will be really grateful if I get a chance again to play in England.

Toss: India captain, Harmanpreet Kaur has the coin. Sri Lanka captain Chamari Athapaththu calls tails. It is a tail. Sri Lanka will bowl first.

Teams:

Sri Lanka Women (Playing XI): Hasini Perera, Chamari Athapaththu(c), Harshitha Samarawickrama, Kavisha Dilhari, Imesha Dulani, Nilakshika Silva, Kaushani Nuthyangana(w), Malsha Shehani, Rashmika Sewwandi, Kawya Kavindi, Nimesha Madushani

India Women (Playing XI): Shafali Verma, Smriti Mandhana, Harleen Deol, Harmanpreet Kaur(c), Richa Ghosh(w), Deepti Sharma, Amanjot Kaur, Arundhati Reddy, Vaishnavi Sharma, Renuka Singh Thakur, Shree Charani

Harmanpreet Kaur: We were looking to bat today. Jemi is not playing because of illness. Kranti is rested. Harleen is back, Arundhati is back. this is an ideal series for us where we can test all the players and give them a right platform. I'm really happy everyone is coming up and giving their best. In this series, we are batting first for the first time, so I'm not going to put any target in mind today. Hopefully we'll put up a good total of the board.

Chamari Athapaththu: We'll bowl first. We batted first in the last three matches. Chasing will be a little bit easier with the dew coming in. We have to play our best cricket. 140 will be a good score to chase. Two changes. Kawya and Rashmika come in.

Sri Lanka Women have won the toss and have opted to field

Shree Charani: I am really grateful to have been part of the World Cup and whatever I have played. Really looking forward to do good things for India. (Bowling in different conditions) Sticking to my strengths. Whatever Harman di or Amol sir or Avi sir (Aavishkar Salvi) told me, I just try to stick to whatever they say. (Adaptations between formats) I don't do much different, only pace variations maybe. Everything else will be the same. (On the 2026 Women's T20 World Cup) Really looking forward to it, will be really grateful if I get a chance again to play in England.

Pitch Report | Shebani Bhaskar and Mithali Raj: "It's a beautiful evening here in Trivandrum and we are at the Greenfield International Stadium here again. We are on pitch no. 7. Let's look at the dimensions - 59m and 60 m square boundaries and a straight hit is 70m down the ground. A little bit of grass has been shaved off. If you look at the wicket, it's a little more browner than the last game, but it is still very good for batting. We've seen Shafali Verma use the lengths very well. Anything pitched up to her, she drove through the line and she was able to access those areas in front. And anything too short, she had time to play across and into the square regions. Just not for the batters, there's something for the seamers as well. We've seen Renuka Thakur bowl those 6-8 metres keeping the stumps in line - very disciplined with that length and line - and she was rewarded with those four wickets. So, it's just not for the batters. If the bowlers are disciplined keeping the stumps in play and disciplined with their lengths, there's something for them as well."

Win the toss, opt to field, restrict the visitors to a score under 130 and hunt down the target inside 15 overs without any fuss. This is what India have done this series. Having already bagged the series, the Indians can afford to experiment a few things. Firstly, they can bat first which gives their bowlers a challenge to bowl with a wet ball. Barring the top four, no one else has really had a crack with the bat in this series. Kamalini and Harleen Deol are the only ones yet to feature in the XI and it'll be interesting to see if the hosts give them a chance. Sri Lanka, on the other hand, are yet to bring their A game. Their batting has been below-par in all the games and the bowlers have failed to exert any sort of pressure on the Indian batters. Can the Asian champions find a way to register a win tonight? Thiruvananthapuram continues to be the battleground and let's hope we witness a close encounter.

Playing XIs

India: 1 Smriti Mandhana, 2 Shafali Verma, 3 Harleen Deol, 4 Harmanpreet Kaur (capt), 5 Richa Ghosh (wk), 6 Deepti Sharma, 7 Amanjot Kaur, 8 Arundhati Reddy, 9 Renuka Singh, 10 Vaishnavi Sharma, 11 Shree Charani

Sri Lanka: 1 Chamari Athapaththu (capt), 2 Hasini Perera, 3 Harshitha Samarawickrama, 4 Kavisha Dilhari, 5 Nilakshika Silva, 6 Imesha Dulani, 7 Kaushini Nuthyangana (wk), 8 Malsha Snehani, 9 Rashmika Sewwandi, 10 Kawya Kavindi, 11 Nimasha Meepage

Renuka Singh Thakur is the Player of the Match for figures of 4-1-21-4. Says she is very happy with the performance and jokes that she somehow always ends up with four wickets and rarely gets a five-wicket haul. Smiles and adds that she might need to work even harder to achieve that. Shares that she regularly goes to the NCA to prepare for tournaments, as it allows her to put in extra work on both her bowling and fitness. Speaking about her variations, Renuka tells that over the past few months, she has been working extensively on them with the World Cup in mind. Feels it is important to remove any doubt from her mind and be mentally prepared. Admits that even when the first over did not go according to plan, she knew she could come back strongly. Also mentions that skipper Harmanpreet Kaur keeps motivating her throughout, and even recalls the legend Jhulan Goswami's words that one has to work harder to earn a fifer.

No Jemimah Rodrigues for today's game as she is down with a mild fever. "Jemimah Rodrigues was unavailable for selection in the 4th T20I in Thiruvananthapuram due to weakness arising from mild fever. The BCCI Medical Team is closely monitoring her progress and recovery," said a BCCI statement. In comes Harleen Deol and she will likely bat at No. 3. Kranti Gaud has meanwhile got a well-earned rest. In comes Arundhati Reddy. For Sri Lanka, Sewwandi and Kavindi are back with Ranaweera and Madara going out.

Chamari Athapaththu, skipper of Sri Lanka Women, admits that her team is not playing its best cricket. She feels the batting unit has struggled considerably and says there is a clear need for improvement in that area. Explains that they have largely persisted with the best batting combination available, while also trying a few options with the bowling unit. Admits that things have not quite fallen into place. Chamari points out the positives from the game, highlighting that Imesha Dulani batted really well and Kavisha Dilhari also contributed. Shares that they are still keen to try out a few more players as they look ahead to the World Cup.