Visakhapatnam, Oct 16 (IANS) Bangladesh have won the toss and elected to bat first against Australia in the Women’s World Cup match at Dr. Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy ACA-VDCA Cricket Stadium in Visakhapatnam on Thursday.

Both teams made two changes for the match as Bangladesh eye their second win of the tournament while the defending champions aim to stretch their unbeaten run.

“We wanted to bat first. Seeing the conditions, we wanted to put runs on the board. We were short on 30-40 runs in the last game. We have two changes. The thing is, we do have a good bowling side. We had to give them rest so that they could recover for the last few games. Hard to recover, I know. We won’t compromise on any game,” Bangladesh captain Nigar Sultana said at the toss.

On the other hand, AUstralia captain Alyssa Healy was happy to see how Darcie Brown gets going in the game after been included in the playing 11. “Look I would have loved to bat. Good breeze, would help the girls. Beautiful place to play cricket. Great crowd. Two changes. Darcie Brown gets the nod and I’m happy to see what she does,” she said.

In the last game, Australia defeated India in a record-breaking run chase in the tournament’s history at the same venue while Bangladesh came close but ultimately lost to South Africa by three wickets in Visakhapatnam.

Playing XIs

Australia: Alyssa Healy(w/c), Phoebe Litchfield, Ellyse Perry, Beth Mooney, Annabel Sutherland, Ashleigh Gardner, Tahlia McGrath, Georgia Wareham, Alana King, Megan Schutt, Darcie Brown.

Bangladesh: Fargana Hoque, Rubya Haider, Sharmin Akhter, Nigar Sultana(w/c), Sobhana Mostary, Ritu Moni, Shorna Akter, Fahima Khatun, Rabeya Khan, Nishita Akter Nishi, Fariha Trisna.

–IANS

ab/bc