India ‘confident’ Mandhana will play against WI in T20 World Cup

CAPTE TOWN: India´s star opening batter Smriti Mandhana has recovered from a finger injury and is set to return for their T20 World Cup match against the West Indies, the Indian coaching staff said on Tuesday.

The 26-year-old left-hander, who topped the bidding in the Women Premier League auction on Monday when Royal Chargers Bangalore signed her for 34 million Indian rupees ($415,000), missed India´s opening group match win over Pakistan because of the injured finger.

India´s bowling coach Troy Cooley, however, said she had come through Tuesday´s training session unscathed and would likely be taking her place in the team at Newlands.

"She has been working very hard and she will be assessed after training," said Cooley.

"She did everything that needed to be done and we are pretty confident she got through the session OK."

The Australian was also unconcerned by the form of bowler Deepti Sharma whose four overs against Pakistan on Sunday went for 39 runs.

"She bowled three overs in the powerplay and one at the death with three fielders out," Cooley said.

"We know those are high pressure situations but who better to give the ball to than someone like Deepti? She is an exceptional player.

"The girls are very good at reviewing their own performances and they are very open to input.

"Deepti is one of our key players and she will go for a few runs some days. That´s the nature of T20. But she bowled in the high pressure situations and we believe she did a good job."

Sharma has a good recent record against the West Indies, taking two for 29 and three for 11 in January´s two tri-series meetings between the sides.

"We know where we went wrong [in the tri-series]," said wicketkeeper Rashada Williams. "We know where we fell short, so it´s just for us to go there and turn up on the day.

"India will be coming hard and they are more aggressive in their latter part of their innings, so it´s just for us to control the game for as long as possible, especially in the last five because we know they´re going to come hard.

"We have to try and restrict them by bowling in the right areas."

West Indies lost their opener against England, making Wednesday´s match-up all the more important as the structure of the tournament means only the top two in each group progress to the knockout stages.

"After losing our first game, it´s important that we come out and perform to our best of our abilities against India," said Williams. "We need everyone to be on their A game."