Hobart, Feb 27 (IANS) India have won the toss and elected to bat first against Australia in the second ODI at the Bellerive Oval on Friday. The multi-format scoreline is currently tied at 4-4 after Australia won the first ODI at the Allan Border Field in Brisbane.

India have opted to rest Shafali Verma and Renuka Singh Thakur, with Amanjot Kaur included and left-arm spinner Vaishnavi Sharma handed her ODI debut in a bid to bolster their bowling stocks.

For India, skipper Harmanpreet Kaur, who won her fifth straight toss in ODIs is fit to take the field after sitting out for India’s entire fielding innings in Brisbane due to a left knee issue. “I’m fine now, my left knee…while playing I just got a niggle,” she said.

Australia made one change – bringing in Nicola Carey, who is based in Hobart, for Sophie Molineux, who has been ruled out of the series due to a lower back injury. A statement from Cricket Australia (CA) said Sophie will be monitored ahead of Australia’s tour of the West Indies next month.

It comes as a worrying aspect for Australia, as the injury-prone Sophie is set to take over as full-time skipper across all formats in the West Indies. “Getting first crack with the ball on a wicket with a little bit of live grass might help us out. We know if we get it right we can restrict them and its not an easy place to defend scores,” said skipper Alyssa Healy.

Playing XIs

India: Smriti Mandhana, Pratika Rawal, Harmanpreet Kaur (captain), Jemimah Rodrigues, Amanjot Kaur, Richa Ghosh (wk), Deepti Sharma, Kashvee Gautam, N Sree Charani, Kranti Gaud, and Vaishnavi Sharma

Australia: Alyssa Healy (captain), Phoebe Litchfield, Georgia Voll, Beth Mooney (wk), Annabel Sutherland, Ashleigh Gardner, Tahlia McGrath, Nicola Carey, Alana King, Megan Schutt, and Darcie Brown

–IANS

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