T20 WC: Will take Sri Lanka very seriously, says Harmanpreet

Feb 28, 2020
Melbourne: India’s spot in the ongoing Women’s T20 World Cup 2020 semi-finals is already safe, but captain Harmanpreet Kaur has insisted that they won’t take Sri Lanka lightly in their final group game to be played on Saturday.

India were the first to sail through to the knockout stage after securing wins against hosts and defending champions Australia, as well as Bangladesh and New Zealand, in the first week of the tournament.

On the other hand, Sri Lanka have lost both the matches they have played so far against Australia and New Zealand and are almost out of the contention of making to the last four-stage.

Victory over Sri Lanka would see India top Group A and head into the semi-finals full of confidence, and Kaur doesn’t want to settle for anything less.

“I know we have qualified, but the next game is still crucial for us,” said Kaur. “We will be taking Sri Lanka very seriously.

“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.

The Indian skipper further said the wicket of Chamari Athapaththu would be crucial and that’s why they would try to take the wicket of the Sri Lankan batter as early as possible.

“We try to take every wicket in all of our games. Every wicket is an important one at this level,” said Kaur.

“We just have to try and stick to our plan, especially to get out the likes of Chamari Athapaththu early. That will be crucial,” she added. IANS