Sri Lanka Women have won the toss and chosen to bowl first against India in the fifth and last T20I match of the series at the Greenfield International Stadium in Thiruvananthapuram. India is currently leading 4-0 in the series and aims for a clean sweep, with the first two matches held in Visakhapatnam and the remaining three in Thiruvananthapuram.
Gunalan Kamalini is all set to make her international debut for India as key players like Smriti Mandhana, Renuka Thakur, Jemimah Rodrigues, and Kranti Goud have been given a rest. Sneh Rana and Harleen Deol are back in the playing eleven. Kamalini, a 17-year-old top-order batter who also keeps wickets, was part of India’s Under-19 team that secured victory in the Women’s T20 World Cup earlier this year and was the leading run-scorer for Tamil Nadu in the Senior Women’s T20 Trophy.
Inoka Ranaweera and Malki Madara return to the Sri Lankan team for this match. Sri Lanka Women’s captain, Chamari Athapaththu, mentioned, “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, the captain of India Women, stated, “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.”
