Building on their confidence after a resounding win over West Indies, India will look for much-needed continuity with the bat against struggling England in their fourth league stage match of the ICC Women’s World Cup at Mount Maunganui on Wednesday.
Currently ranked third after a morale-boosting 155 against West Indies, India are looking to continue the winning momentum and maintain their hold in the top four, especially when they take on table toppers Australia after England.
Read also: Harmanpreet asks Indian teammates to focus on positive things
After an inexplicably slow performance against New Zealand when Indian batsmen played 162 dot balls, Smriti Mandhana (123 off 119) and Harmanpreet Kaur (109 off 107) put up excellent batting performances including twins against West Indies. Gave power to India by scoring a century. He has the highest score (317/8) in the history of the showpiece event.
“I think it is very important for us the way we performed in the last game; We need to continue this, instead of thinking what are your negatives and what are your positive points,” vice-captain Kaur told reporters on the eve of the game.
Both openers Mandhana and Yastika Bhatia showed intent from the start, something coach Romesh Powar insisted before the match.
Mandhana scored a fluent 123 while Kaur also continued her good run, scoring her fourth century and her first since scoring an unbeaten 171 against Australia in the 2017 World Cup.
The pair would be keen to continue in the same vein as they vie for a place in the semi-finals.
However, top-ranked all-rounder Deepti Sharma has to do more with the bat like skipper Mithali Raj, who was recently dismissed.
Young Richa Ghosh, who performed brilliantly behind the wickets, has so far broken under pressure with the bat. The 18-year-old is yet to repeat her sensational form against New Zealand last month.
Along with Sneh Rana and Pooja Vastrakar, India also have quality all-rounders, who are showing their ability to convert an already poor performance into a scintillating final result.
The bowling unit, which seemed to be a concern in the World Cup, has done well for the team so far.
While pacers Meghna Singh, Pooja Vastrakar and Jhulan Goswami are doing a good job, most of the wickets are shared between the spinners – Rajeshwari Gaikwad (7), who is third on the list of leading wicket-takers in the tournament, and Sneh Rana (5 wickets).
Gaikward (3.36) and Rana (3.44) also have the third and fourth best economy rates in the tournament respectively.
England’s title defense, on the other hand, has had a poor start. Heather Knight & Company has slipped to seventh place in the points table after losing all three matches.
Their inability to cancel matches at the last minute has paid a heavy price to the defending champions.
Wednesday’s defeat against India means their chances of a top-four spot have completely gone out of hand, a possibility that England would certainly like to avoid.
The defending champions have been sluggish on the field as fielding errors took away many of their chances and missed stumpings.
Opener Tammy Beaumont continues his stellar run with the bat, while spinner Sophie Ecclestone and all-rounder Nat Scriver are the team’s leading wicket-takers, with four wickets each.
full squad
India: Mithali Raj (c), Smriti Mandhana, Shafali Verma, Harmanpreet Kaur, Yastika Bhatia, Deepti Sharma, Pooja Vastrakar, Rich Ghosh (wk), Taniya Bhatia (wk), Sneh Rana, Meghna Singh, Rajeshwari Gayakwad, Poonam Yadav, Jhulan Goswami , Renuka Singh.
England: Heather Knight (c), Tammy Beaumont, Katherine Brunt, Freya Davis, Charlie Dean, Sophia Dunkley, Kate Cross, Sophie Ecclestone, Tash Farrant, Amy Jones, Emma Lamb, Nate Sciver, Anya Shrubsole, Lauren Winfield-Hill, Danny Wyatt.
Get all the latest updates cricket news, cricket pictures, cricket videos, IPL Auction 2022 And cricket score Here