India women will hope the rain stays away when they take the field for the second T20I against Australia women in Gold Coast on Saturday.

Rain has turned out to be a spoilsport for the Indian team on more than one occasion during their ongoing tour. The heavens opened up to rob a significant portion of play during the day-night Test which India dominated and also washed out the opening T20I after the visitors had moved into a strong position, reaching 131/4 in 15.2 overs.

India, captained by Harmanpreet Kaur, will be confident of yet another good show against Meg Lanning’s team on Saturday.

The return to form of Jemimah Rodrigues augurs well for India. The 21-year-old looked impressive during her unbeaten 49 off 36 balls in the abandoned first T20I. With openers Smriti Mandhana and Shafali Verma expected to give the team an explosive start, Jemimah’s assurance in the middle order will add further strength to the side.

Harmanpreet, having missed action for most of the tour due to a thumb injury, will surely be eager to get runs.

It will also be an opportunity for the young duo of Yastika Bhatia and Richa Ghosh to prove their worth ahead of next year’s ODI World Cup.

It will be interesting to see how India’s bowling attack tackles the strong Australian batting line-up. They will not have the cushion to fall back on the experience of Jhulan Goswami, who no longer plays T20Is. Seamer Shikha Pandey will have to shoulder much of the responsibility.

Australia, on the other hand, will be banking on their quality all-rounders to tame India, who have got better with each match of the tour.

Match starts: 1.40pm (IST)