Smriti Mandhana believes the gap between India and Sunday’s opponents Australia has narrowed as they prepare to do battle in the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup 2026.
India will know exactly what they need to do to secure a place in the semi-finals when they take to Lord’s at 14:30 local time, with South Africa playing Bangladesh at the same venue at 10:30.
Currently, Australia sit top of Group A on eight points, with India and South Africa two points behind.
Mandhana’s side are ahead of the Proteas on net run rate, and she will be ready to come out firing.
“I feel the gap has definitely narrowed with a few of our players playing Big Bash, them playing the WPL,” the opener said.
“The experience has been shared, and I feel the kind of cricket the Indian team has played in the last four, five years – I wouldn’t say only the last two years, but I think it was a build-up in the last five odd years, how steadily I think we’ve played.
“And definitely, of course, that gap has narrowed down, and I just feel now at this moment, especially in T20 cricket, it’s just about whoever – whichever team is having a good day is going to win the match.
“We’ve all spoken a lot about how we really want to be playing the aggressive brand of cricket, and that’s something which we’ll all look to do tomorrow.”
India beat Australia 2-1 in a bilateral series in February, and Mandhana is relishing the opportunity to renew their rivalry.
She added: “Australia is a good team. We’ve always had good contests against them.
“Even as a batter, I’ve always looked forward to playing them because, of course, they are one of the best in the world.
“We all have to really go out, play the ball, and not anything else. Not the situation, not anything else, we just have to play the ball and get the best for the team.”
Meanwhile, Australia are set to be back to full strength with captain Sophie Molineux confirming the return of Phoebe Litchfield after three games out injured.
Beth Mooney is fighting fit after dislocating her finger twice in her side’s 113-run win over Pakistan.
Molineux said: “Phoebe was looking good. She fully trained today and has been building up, and was pretty good over the last week or so. She’s going to be good, which is exciting for us.
“Beth has said her finger doesn’t look blown up or anything like that, which is a miracle. And she’s tough, so she’ll be absolutely fine to go on Sunday and onwards.
“I don’t envy her, that coming out twice in one game, and she stayed on. But yeah, she’s tough, and she’s done that a lot for us over the years, and this is no different.”
Australia have often been called ruthless and now is no different, with the six-time champions hoping to heap the pressure on India, even with their semi-final place potentially confirmed before they play.
Molineux added: “We’re in a bit of a different situation to India. We still need to win and make sure we finish where we want to place.
“We know that there’s a bit of pressure on them, and I think hopefully we can double down on that and put pressure on them as well quite early in the game.
“Games against India are always good, always intense, but it’s a sellout crowd, so we know it’s going to be a big occasion and we’re very much looking forward to it.”