England Women have won the toss and elected to bat first against India Women in the fourth T2OI at the Emirates Old Trafford, Manchester.
Both the captains expressed confidence in their sides while sticking with unchanged XIs. With the series locked at 2-2, England captain Tammy Beaumont won the toss and opted to bat first, banking on a strong start with the bat on a pitch she described as "beautiful."
"We are going to have a bat first. I think the wicket looks a beautiful one, so we want to put runs on the board," Beaumont said at the toss. England are coming off a morale-boosting five-wicket win in the last match, and Beaumont believes the team has momentum on their side. “Yeah absolutely, we were delighted with the performance in the previous game. We need to improve on a couple of things. We will look to come out with the same fight and character.”
The match also marks a significant milestone for England’s star spinner. “Sophie Ecclestone playing her 100th T20I? Yeah absolutely. She is an absolute superstar. Not having an international game here for 12 years, I think it's great that she gets the opportunity to play her 100th game here tonight,” added Beaumont, celebrating Ecclestone’s contribution to the team.
India captain Harmanpreet Kaur admitted she too was keen to bat first but remained unfazed by being asked to bowl. “Well we were also looking to bat to be honest. The surface looks very good to bat on. Hopefully we will give our best,” said Harmanpreet.
With a chance to clinch the series, the Indian skipper emphasised the team’s preparation and focus. “Well, we have been training really hard because this series is very important for us. We have spent really good time in the nets and hopefully we will give our best today.”
Recognising the high stakes, she added: “Yeah it's very important for us and we are looking forward to it (possibly clinching the series today).” India also head into the match with an unchanged XI. “No, we are going with the same XI,” she confirmed.
India Women Playing XI: Smriti Mandhana (vc), Shafali Verma, Jemimah Rodrigues, Harmanpreet Kaur (c), Amanjot Kaur, Richa Ghosh (wk), Deepti Sharma, Radha Yadav, Arundhati Reddy, Sneh Rana, Nallapureddy Charani
England Women Playing XI: Danielle Nicole Wyatt-Hodge, Sophia Dunkley, Alice Capsey, Tammy Beaumont (c), Amy Jones (wk), Paige Scholfield, Sophie Ecclestone, Isabelle Wong, Charlie Dean, Lauren Filer, Lauren Bell
