England wins the toss and elects to bat first in the final of ICC Women’s world cup 2017 at historic Lord’s. the host’s skipper Heather Knight on a super Sunday clash opted to bat first against resurgent India while sticking to their same playing XI which claimed a thrilling win over South Africa at the Bristol on July 18. (Read Here: Twitter Reactions: Go Conquer Lord’s, Ladies! Twitter Bursts In Support Of Mithali Raj And Girls).
On the other side, Indian skipper Mithali Raj has also wished to bat first, if the coin had fallen in her favour at the toss time.
On the grand occasion of the elite cricket, the national anthems of both the teams were played at the sold-out stadium — to lift the players’ spirits of the players.
As broadcasters are expecting the much-awaited final to become the much watched grand finale of the ICC Women’s World Cup, India on the other side, is eyeing the glory — to lift their maiden coveted trophy of the 50-over World Cup, whereas, Heather Knight-led England has done their homework to make the contest doubly exciting.
Interestingly, the 35-run loss against India in the league stage would be playing on the minds of the hosts, as they’re taking the field in a pressure-cooker game at the iconic Lord’s.
Interesting, before the start of the match, former England’s 105-year-old oldest living cricketer Eileen Ash rang the bell, to start the proceedings for the ICC Women’s World Cup final which has witnessed the surprises and sublime performances from players.
Both the teams have had witnessed a superb batting and equally the bowling display to reach the final while aiming to write their respective names in the record books.
Quotes from skippers:
“We are going to have a bat with no changes taking place in the Playing XI. We would like to put runs on the board. It is lovely, it is sold out (stadium) today. Hopefully, we can finish off well today. Looks like there will be a bit of rain, but hopefully, that will clear out,” said Knight at the toss.
These girls are fearless, they are very confident and ready to step up to the big challenge. We are going with the same team which featured against Australian (Southern Stars). We would have batted too, but the seamers are back in form, so I am sure they will make use of these conditions,” Mithali Raj said after losing the toss.
Here are the playing XI:
Playing XI England: Lauren Winfield, Tammy Beaumont, Sarah Taylor (wk), Heather Knight (Skipper), Natalie Sciver, Fran Wilson, Katherine Brunt, Jenny Gunn, Laura Marsh, Anya Shrubsole and Alex Hartley
Playing XI India: Smriti Mandhana, Punam Raut, Mithali Raj (Skipper), Harmanpreet Kaur, Deepti Sharma, Veda Krishnamurthy, Sushma Verma (wk), Jhulan Goswami, Shikha Pandey, Rajeshwari Gayakwad and Poonam Yadav.