Skipper Harmanpreet Kaur promises strong show in last group match of T20 World Cup v Sri Lanka; India will shift focus to the semi-final after today-s clash.
Harmanpreet Kaur (second from right) leads the team off the field after Indias win over New Zealand at Melbourne on Thursday. Pic/Getty Images
The Indian women-s team captain Harmanpreet Kaur on Friday insisted that her side will take its final group game of the ICC Women-s T20 World Cup against Sri Lanka seriously before shifting focus on to the semi-finals.
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India became the first side to sail through to the knockout stages after securing wins against hosts and defending champions Australia, as well as Bangladesh and New Zealand, in the first week of the tournament. "I know we have qualified, but the next game is still crucial for us. We will be taking Sri Lanka very seriously," Harmanpreet said. "They-ve been doing well. I know they haven-t won a game but they were almost there on both occasions. We will be taking it very seriously before we start thinking about the semi-finals," she added.
Eyeing top spot
Victory over Sri Lanka today would see India top Group -A- and head into the semi-finals high on confidence. "We try to take every wicket in all of our games. Every wicket is an important one at this level. We just have to try and stick to our plan, especially to get out the likes of Chamari Athapaththu early. That will be crucial," Harmanpreet said. Sri Lanka have arguably had the toughest start to the tournament having lost to New Zealand and Australia in their opening two games, and now in-form India awaits then in their third Group -A- fixture.
But Sri Lanka gave Australia a mighty scare in Perth by reducing the hosts to 10-3 in the early overs. Sri Lanka veteran Shashikala Siriwardena—who will retire from all formats of the game at the end of the tournament after 17 years—is proud of her team-s fight so far, but admitted that it would be a big disappointment if they fail to register a win in her farewell tournament.
SL in correction mode
"We did well against Australia and New Zealand, but we couldn-t turn it into a win. We have to do what we have done well in previous matches against India but at the same time we need to correct the mistakes we are repeating, especially in fielding," she said.
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