The Indian women's cricket team takes on Ireland women's cricket team in the third group-league match of the ICC Women's World T20 at the Providence Stadium in Guyana wherein a win would guarantee the Women in Blue a semi-final berth.
When does the match start and how to watch it live
The third group stage game between the Indians and the Irish will start at 11 am local time, 8:30 pm IST and 3 pm GMT.
Star Sports 1 and Star Sports 1 HD will provide live television coverage of the match in India. The live stream will be available on Hotstar.
India vs Ireland preview
India head into the match as overwhelming favourites having won both their previous encounters – against New Zealand and Pakistan – comfortably while Ireland is placed at the bottom of Group B.
Knowing that a win against Ireland would all but seal a semi-final berth, Harmanpreet Kaur's women would be keen to complete, what seems on paper, a formality before heading into the final group game against table toppers, (on net run rate) Australia.
Although Kaur spoke about guarding against complacency, she will be well aware that the Ireland game is more a chance to tighten up some loose ends.
"We bowled well in patches, but disappointed with the fielding, we need to improve a lot. It's important to bat and bowl well in the first 6 overs - we had some plans, I thought we did well with the ball today," Kaur told the media after the win against Pakistan.
While Kaur herself – having scored a century against New Zealand in the opening game – and Mithali Raj – having scored a match-winning 50 against Pakistan – are in good nick, she would want the likes of Smriti Mandhana to get back to her usual run-scoring form.
India has also shown flexibility in the batting order depending on the match situation. In the first game against New Zealand, as the team tried to put up a gigantic total, they sent in the pinch hitters and Raj didn't get to bat. In the second game, though, in a tricky chase, Raj was sent out to open the innings and won the player of the match as she guided her team to victory.
In the bowling department, she will be pleased by her pint-sized trump card, Poonam Yadav who is the leading wicket-taker in T20I in 2018 with 32 wickets breezing past Shadab Khan of the men's game who has 28. She has already beguiled batters with her slow and loopy leg spinners while being ably supported by Dayalan Hemalatha with the rest of the bowling pack.
Ireland, on the other hand, came into the tournament as the bottom-placed team and has done little to prove otherwise as they will once again try their hand at living well to their tag of fighters.
Squads
India: Harmanpreet Kaur (c), Jemimah Rodrigues, Smriti Mandhana, Taniya Bhatia, Ekta Bisht, Dayalan Hemalatha, Mansi Joshi, Veda Krishnamurthy, Anuja Patil, Poonam Yadav, Mithali Raj, Arundhati Reddy, Deepti Sharma, Pooja Vastrakar, Radha Yadav.
Ireland: Clare Shillington, Cecelia Joyce, Gaby Lewis, Eimear Richardson, Isobel Joyce, Laura Delany(c), Kim Garth, Shauna Kavanagh, Mary Waldron(w), Lucy OReilly, Ciara Metcalfe, Celeste Raack, Rebecca Stokell, Lara Maritz, Amy Kenealy
India vs Ireland: Women's World T20 TV channels
- UK: Sky Sports Cricket
- US: Willow TV
- South Africa: SuperSport
