<p>Indian women's cricket team will look to end a 47-year wait for its maiden International Cricket Council (ICC) title when it takes the field at the ODI World Cup starting with a clash against Sri Lanka in Guwahati on Tuesday.</p><p>Ranked world No.3, the Harmanpreet Kaur-led India will look to make the most of their familiarity with conditions in the 13th edition of the tournament, that is returning to India after 12 years.</p>.Harmanpreet shuts out outside noise at home Women's World Cup.<p>The global showpiece will feature eight top ranked teams -- Australia, England, India, New Zealand, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Pakistan -- competing in 28 league matches in a round-robin format across four venues in India and one in Colombo for a prize money of $13.88 million.</p><p>The Sri Lankan capital will host 11 round-robin matches, including Pakistan's seven league stage games and the marquee clash against India on October 5.</p><p>One semifinal and the final are also scheduled there, should Pakistan go all the way.</p><p>On current form, India arrive with confidence, having recently beaten England in both ODI and T20I series.</p><p>They also ended a worrying losing sequence against Australia in a recent tournament build-up series. The Indians nearly chased down 413 in the final ODI in New Delhi against the team which is chasing a record-extending eighth title.</p>.Smriti Mandhana notches up second fastest Women's ODI hundred off 50 balls.<p>Indian vice-captain Smriti Mandhana remains the fulcrum of the batting unit, enjoying the form of her life at the top of order.</p><p>The left-hander has already struck four ODI centuries, including two back-to-back against Australia, this year. She averages 66.28 with a strike rate of 115.85.</p><p>Playing her fifth World Cup, Harmanpreet, who reserves her best for big tournaments, carries a tournament average of over 50. She smashed a century against England recently and followed it up with a fifty against Australia.</p><p>Jemimah Rodrigues, back from injury, scored a composed 66 in the warm-up against England and adds stability in the middle order.</p><p>Return of Renuka Singh from an injury would bolster the pace attack as she would spearhead the bowling on flatbeds across the venues.</p><p>However, India's pace department remains thin on experience.</p><p>Renuka aside, the other pacers -- Kranti, Arundhati Reddy and Amanjot -- have played just 25 ODIs between them and the bowling has conceded 300-plus scores in recent past.</p><p>The spin line-up led by Deepti Sharma, Radha Yadav, Sneh Rana and N Sree Charani, is tailor-made for home conditions but it remains to be seen how much turn would be on offer in the flat decks.</p><p>India's biggest challenge could be mental, as history shows a tendency to falter in crunch situations.</p><p>They let slip winning positions in the 2017 World Cup final and in the recent memory, the 2022 Commonwealth Games final, going down to Australia narrowly.</p><p>Tournament co-hosts Sri Lanka, led by Chamari Athapaththu, return to the World Cup after missing out on qualification in 2022.</p><p>Sri Lanka will rely on 20-year-old all-rounder Dewmi Vihanga, who has already shown her pedigree in the format.</p><p>With five of their league games scheduled at home, they will be boosted by familiar conditions and strong crowd support and could fancy their chances to be among top-four.</p><p>The opening match against Sri Lanka begins at 3pm local time.</p><p>(with inputs from agencies)</p>
<p>Indian women's cricket team will look to end a 47-year wait for its maiden International Cricket Council (ICC) title when it takes the field at the ODI World Cup starting with a clash against Sri Lanka in Guwahati on Tuesday.</p><p>Ranked world No.3, the Harmanpreet Kaur-led India will look to make the most of their familiarity with conditions in the 13th edition of the tournament, that is returning to India after 12 years.</p>.Harmanpreet shuts out outside noise at home Women's World Cup.<p>The global showpiece will feature eight top ranked teams -- Australia, England, India, New Zealand, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Pakistan -- competing in 28 league matches in a round-robin format across four venues in India and one in Colombo for a prize money of $13.88 million.</p><p>The Sri Lankan capital will host 11 round-robin matches, including Pakistan's seven league stage games and the marquee clash against India on October 5.</p><p>One semifinal and the final are also scheduled there, should Pakistan go all the way.</p><p>On current form, India arrive with confidence, having recently beaten England in both ODI and T20I series.</p><p>They also ended a worrying losing sequence against Australia in a recent tournament build-up series. The Indians nearly chased down 413 in the final ODI in New Delhi against the team which is chasing a record-extending eighth title.</p>.Smriti Mandhana notches up second fastest Women's ODI hundred off 50 balls.<p>Indian vice-captain Smriti Mandhana remains the fulcrum of the batting unit, enjoying the form of her life at the top of order.</p><p>The left-hander has already struck four ODI centuries, including two back-to-back against Australia, this year. She averages 66.28 with a strike rate of 115.85.</p><p>Playing her fifth World Cup, Harmanpreet, who reserves her best for big tournaments, carries a tournament average of over 50. She smashed a century against England recently and followed it up with a fifty against Australia.</p><p>Jemimah Rodrigues, back from injury, scored a composed 66 in the warm-up against England and adds stability in the middle order.</p><p>Return of Renuka Singh from an injury would bolster the pace attack as she would spearhead the bowling on flatbeds across the venues.</p><p>However, India's pace department remains thin on experience.</p><p>Renuka aside, the other pacers -- Kranti, Arundhati Reddy and Amanjot -- have played just 25 ODIs between them and the bowling has conceded 300-plus scores in recent past.</p><p>The spin line-up led by Deepti Sharma, Radha Yadav, Sneh Rana and N Sree Charani, is tailor-made for home conditions but it remains to be seen how much turn would be on offer in the flat decks.</p><p>India's biggest challenge could be mental, as history shows a tendency to falter in crunch situations.</p><p>They let slip winning positions in the 2017 World Cup final and in the recent memory, the 2022 Commonwealth Games final, going down to Australia narrowly.</p><p>Tournament co-hosts Sri Lanka, led by Chamari Athapaththu, return to the World Cup after missing out on qualification in 2022.</p><p>Sri Lanka will rely on 20-year-old all-rounder Dewmi Vihanga, who has already shown her pedigree in the format.</p><p>With five of their league games scheduled at home, they will be boosted by familiar conditions and strong crowd support and could fancy their chances to be among top-four.</p><p>The opening match against Sri Lanka begins at 3pm local time.</p><p>(with inputs from agencies)</p>
