30 September,2025 03:37 PM IST | Mumbai | mid-day online correspondent
Harmanpreet Kaur, Chamari Athapaththu (Pic: X/@ICC)
In the ODI Women's World Cup 2025 opening match against the Indian women's team, Sri Lanka's skipper Chamari Athapaththu has won the toss and elected to bowl first at the Assam Cricket Association Stadium in Guwahati.
Harmanpreet Kaur-led Team India has arrived in the tournament as one of the favourites to clinch the title. Previously, the side has not managed to win any 50-over format World Cup title.
Speaking after the toss, Sri Lanka's skipper Athapaththu said, "We were looking to bowl as well. Looks (pitch) very good, hopefully we will put up a good score. Everyone is fit, we are going in with three spinners and two pacers," said Harmanpreet at the toss.
"I am pretty confident about my bowling unit so we are bowling first. It is a good batting track but there could be some dew later on. We are going with seven batters," she added.
Team India skipper Harmanpreet Kaur said that even she would have chosen to bowl first. She gave a special mention to the premier batswoman, Smriti Mandhana.
"We were looking to bowl as well. Looks (pitch) very good, hopefully we will put up a good score. Everyone is fit, we are going in with three spinners and two pacers. She (Smriti) has always been great for us; hopefully, she continues to do well. Today is a great opportunity to play good cricket again," said Kaur.
So far, the Indian women's team has not won any 50-over World Cup, and is hopeful of clinching the title in front of the home crowd.
The ICC Women's Cricket World Cup 2025 will be played from 30 September to 2 November across DY Patil Stadium (Navi Mumbai), ACA Stadium (Guwahati), Holkar Stadium (Indore), ACA-VDCA Stadium (Visakhapatnam) and R Premadasa Stadium (Colombo, Sri Lanka).
ODI Women's World Cup 2025, IND W vs SL W: Confirmed Playing XI
India's Confirmed Playing XI: Smriti Mandhana, Pratika Rawal, Harleen Deol, Harmanpreet Kaur (c), Jemimah Rodrigues, Richa Ghosh (wk), Deepti Sharma, Amajot Kaur, Sneh Rana, Kranti Goud, Nallapureddy Charani.
Sri Lanka's Confirmed Playing XI: Chamari Athapaththu (c), Hasini Perera, Harshitha Samarawickrama, Vishmi Gunaratne, Kavisha Dilhari, Nilakshi de Silva, Anushka Sanjeewani (wk), Sugandika Kumari, Achini Kulasuriya, Udeshika Prabodhani, Inoka Ranaweera.
