PRE MATCH ANALYSIS
Follow UsMithali Raj and Co. can afford no more slip-ups if they want to progress further in the ongoing World Cup in New Zealand. India have blown hot and cold in the 50-over tournament and need to win both of their remaining fixtures to give themselves a good chance of qualifying for the knockouts. However, even if they manage to do that, India would need a couple of results to go in their favour.
The Women in Blue lost to New Zealand, England and Australia, but thanks to their big wins over Pakistan (107 runs) and West Indies (155), India have a superior Net Run-Rate (+0.456) than every other team apart from Australia (+1.424). And, a massive win over Bangladesh on Tuesday (March 22) in Hamilton will boost their NRR further and also give them a much-needed momentum ahead of their final league stage encounter against unbeaten South Africa, which will be played in Christchurch on Sunday (March 27).
Qualification scenarios for India
West Indies losing to Pakistan on Monday have made things slightly easier for India but the Women in Blue still need to win their remaining two matches against Bangladesh and South Africa to progress further. If India and England win their remaining games, the two teams will most likely qualify for the knockouts. Meanwhile, West Indies (-0.885) will have to defeat South Africa by a massive margin even to keep themselves alive in the tournament. All three of them now can't go beyond eight points.
Talking about South Africa, Sune Luus and Co. to win just one of their remaining three games (vs Australia, West Indies and India) to confirm their place in the semi-finals. England lost their first three encounters but have managed to keep themselves alive with consecutive victories against India and New Zealand. England (+0.327) are not too behind India when it comes to NRR and their last two matches are against slightly weaker opponents - Pakistan and Bangladesh. The forecast for tomorrow in Hamilton doesn’t look great and the weather could also mess things up for India.
Vastrakar continues to impress
Harmanpreet Kaur (256 runs at 64) and Smriti Mandhana (226 runs at 45.2) are India’s top-two run-scorers in the tournament and the team management will also be delighted with Mithali returning to form against Australia. With scores of 9, 31, 5 and 1, the Indian skipper didn't have a great start to the tournament but played a crucial knock of 68 against Australia to get back amongst runs. Yastika Bhatia and Sneh Rana have also chipped in with a couple of handy knocks, while the bowlers have also done well as a unit.
However, if you have to pick one Indian player who has been superb in all three facets of the game, it has to be Pooja Vastrakar. Batting down the order, the 22-year-old allrounder has scored 123 runs at a stunning strike rate of 105.12. And, on top of that, the right-arm seamer has also claimed eight wickets at an average of 15 and an economy rate of 4.44. Against Australia, Vastrakar scored 34 off 28 deliveries and also picked up crucial wickets of Rachael Haynes and Ellyse Perry.
There are only four players who have scored more than 100 runs and picked up at least five wickets in this tournament and Vastrakar is one of them, with Marizanne Kapp, Hayley Matthews and Amelia Kerr being the other three. The focus will also be on young dynamic opener Shafali Verma. The right-handed opener was dismissed for a duck against Pakistan and was then dropped for the next two encounters. She made her return against Australia but could only manage to score 12. The team management would want Shafali to fire against Bangladesh and South Africa, because if she does that, it will take some pressure off other senior batters.
India need to be wary of Bangladesh spinners
Bangladesh have only won one match but the Nigar Sultana-led side has been mighty impressive in their first World Cup, especially in the bowling department. They did defeat Pakistan by nine runs, and if not for their batting, they could have also easily got the better of South Africa and West Indies. Bangladesh failed to chase down 207 against South Africa, while against West Indies, they couldn’t even chase down 140. Fargana Hoque, Nigar Sultana and Sharmin Akhter are their leading run-getters in this competition but all of them have a strike rate of close to 60, which is terrible in this era.
Their batters have been way below-par, but when it comes to their bowling, Bangladesh have been superb. The likes of Fahima Khatun (3.56), Rumana Ahmed (3.77), Fariha Trisna (4.04), Salma Khatun (4.12), Jahanara Alam (4.17), Ritu Moni (4.44) and Nahida Akter (4.44) all have an economy of less than 4.5 and the Indian batters surely won't be gifted easy runs. In fact, Bangladesh have the best economy rate and the second-best bowling average in the ongoing showpiece event.
Probable XIs
India - Smriti Mandhana, Shafali Verma, Yastika Bhatia, Mithali Raj (c), Harmanpreet Kaur, Richa Ghosh (wk), Sneh Rana, Pooja Vastrakar, Jhulan Goswami, Meghna Singh, Rajeshwari Gayakwad.
Bangladesh - Shamima Sultana (wk), Sharmin Akhter, Fargana Hoque, Nigar Sultana (c), Rumana Ahmed, Ritu Moni, Fahima Khatun, Salma Khatun, Nahida Akter, Jahanara Alam, Fariha Trisna.
(All stats till March 20, 2022)
