Commonwealth Games 2022: Barbados opts to bowl vs India, Pooja Vastrakar back in squad

Barbados women’s captain Hayley Matthews chose to bowl first as she won the toss against India at the Edgbaston Cricket Stadium in the final group stage match of Group A in Commonwealth Games 2022 on Wednesday. It is also the final match in the Commonwealth Games Group A for the two sides and the winner will be advancing to the semifinal to face Australia.

Barbados has made one change coming into the match, compared to India’s two changes. Taniya Bhatia is replacing Yastika Bhatia whereas all-rounder Pooja Vastrakar replaces S Meghana after recuperating from COVID-19.

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Barbados women’s team skipper Hayley Matthews opted to field first. “We are gonna bowl first. Unfortunately we are not going to have her for West Indies, but she is going to play for Barbados today. We got one change,” she quipped.

Indian women’s cricket team skipper Harmanpreet Kaur revealed that Pooja Vastrakar is back to the squad after recuperating from COVID-19. “Pooja is back in the side and very excited to have her. We have one more change, Bhatia (Taniya) is replacing Bhatia (Yastika),” she said.

The match is essentially a quarterfinal for both teams, as both Barbados and India will be looking to register a win. The Indians began their campaign with a defeat against Australia, however, bounced back with a victory over Pakistan in the next match.

On the other hand, Barbados beat Pakistan in their campaign opener, however, could not win against Australia in the next match.

India will look towards captain Harmanpreet Kaur, openers Shafali Verma, Smriti Mandhana and bowler Renuka Singh to deliver their best performance on the pitch on Wednesday if they want to clinch the victory over Barbados. On the other hand, Hayley Mattews will be depending on the duo of Kycia Knight, Deandra Dottin and Shaunte Carrington to reach the semifinal.

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India Women: Shafali Verma, Smriti Mandhana, Jemimah Rodrigues, Harmanpreet Kaur(c), Taniya Bhatia(w), Deepti Sharma, Radha Yadav, Sneh Rana, Meghna Singh, Renuka Singh, Pooja Vastrakar

Barbados Women: Deandra Dottin, Hayley Matthews(c), Kycia Knight(w), Kyshona Knight, Aaliyah Alleyne, Trishan Holder, Alisa Scantlebury, Shakera Selman, Shamilia Connell, Shaunte Carrington, Shanika Bruce