Guwahati, Sep 30: Sri Lanka captain Chamari Athapaththu won the toss against India in the Women’s World Cup 2025 opener and elected to bowl first at the Barsapara Stadium in Guwahati.

The co-hosts will aim to kick off their campaign on a winning note as they compete in the tournament's first match. Both sides are yet to win an ICC title and will be on the hunt for their first-ever.

Sri Lanka missed out on qualification for the 2022 edition of the tournament and hence were not part of it. Athapaththu, who is most likely making her final ODI World Cup appearance, said, “We are bowling first. I am pretty confident about my bowling unit so we are bowling first. It is a good batting track but there could be some dew later on. We are going with seven batters. The prep has been good. Next five games we are playing in Sri Lanka, I hope we can bring out our best in the competition.”

Dubbed as favourites to win the cup at home, India captain Harmanpreet Kaur said that they were going ahead with three spinners and two pacers.

“We were looking to bowl as well. The pitch looks very good, hopefully, we will put up a good score. Everyone is fit, we are going in with three spinners and two pacers. She has been fantastic for us; hopefully, she (Smriti) continues to do well. Today is a great opportunity to play good cricket again,” the Indian skipper said at the toss.

Playing XIs

Sri Lanka: Chamari Athapaththu (c), Hasini Perera, Harshitha Samarawickrama, Vishmi Gunaratne, Kavisha Dilhari, Nilakshi de Silva, Anushka Sanjeewani (wk), Achini Kulasuriya, Sugandika Kumari, Udeshika Prabodhani, Inoka Ranaweera

India: Smriti Mandhana, Pratika Rawal, Harleen Deol, Harmanpreet Kaur (c), Jemimah Rodrigues, Richa Ghosh (wk), Deepti Sharma, Amanjot Kaur, Sneh Rana, Kranti Goud, Shree Charani

(IANS)

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