PRE MATCH ANALYSIS
Follow UsIndia couldn’t have asked for a better time to come face to face against England in the 2022 Women’s World Cup. The defending champions have lost all their three encounters in the ongoing showpiece event in New Zealand and can’t afford any more slip-ups.
Meanwhile, the Women in Blue suffered a heavy defeat against New Zealand but managed to turn things around against West Indies, hammering them by 155 runs in Hamilton. India will now look to build on that momentum when they take on the Heather Knight-led side in Mount Maunganui on Wednesday (March 16).
Mithali, Ghosh need to come good
The next two games are going to be extremely crucial for India if they want to give themselves a chance to get their hands on the silverware. They managed to get the better of Pakistan and the West Indies but were outclassed by New Zealand. Three of their remaining four matches are against formidable opponents - England, Australia and South Africa. Yes, England have struggled to get going in this competition but they are still a dangerous unit, especially now that they are in a do-or-die situation.
The Indian team management would be delighted with the way things have progressed so far. India have the best bowling average (19.3), balls/wicket (27.6) and economy rate (4.1) in the tournament, with the likes of Rajeshwari Gayakwad, Sneh Rana, Jhulan Goswami, Pooja Vastrakar, Meghna Singh and Deepti Sharma all operating at way below five runs per over.
In the batting department, Smriti Mandhana has once again been amongst runs, while Harmanpreet Kaur too has found her mojo back. The two senior batters smashed stunning centuries against West Indies and helped India amass a total of 317/8.
Opener Yastika Bhatia too made a fiery contribution against West Indies, while all-rounders Rana and Vastrakar have been the real game-changers for India both with the bat and ball. Apart from taking 10 wickets between them, Rana and Vastrakar have also scored crucial runs down the order at a pretty good strike rate.
"I think for us, very important to - the way we performed in the last game, we just need to continue that rather than just thinking about what their weaknesses are and what are their positive points. And right now, we are only looking on our strengths, and the areas where we are doing well, and the areas where we need to improve as a team," said Harmanpreet.
Most of the things are starting to click for India but they would be slightly worried about the form of their skipper Mithali Raj and young wicketkeeper-batter Richa Ghosh. Mithali has scored just 45 runs in three innings, that too at a horrible strike rate of 43.68.
Meanwhile, Ghosh only has six runs to her name in three innings and hasn’t been able to build on the form she displayed against New Zealand in the ODI series prior to the mega event. India can’t always rely on Mandhana and Harmanpreet to get those big runs and that’s where Mithali and Deepti will have to chip in. India have a tough road ahead and will have to be at their absolute best if they want to progress further in the tournament.
Time for England to click as a unit
England have competed in all of their three matches but have ended up on the wrong side of the result every single time. They lost to Australia in a high-scoring affair and then failed to chase down a paltry target of 226 against West Indies. Then, the reigning champions posted a total of 235/9 against South Africa but the Sune Luus-side hunted it down in the final over with three wickets to spare. There have been some solid individual performances but England have failed to click as a unit.
The likes of Nat Sciver, Tammy Beaumont and Amy Jones have produced a couple of outstanding knocks but haven’t got much support from batters like Knight, Danni Wyatt and Lauren Winfield-Hill. If India have outstanding numbers in the bowling department, England have the worst average, balls/wicket and economy rate in the event. Sophie Ecclestone didn’t have a great first game but has bounced back in the last two encounters, but apart from her, the other bowlers have simply not picked up enough wickets.
"It's obviously disappointing. With the start that we've had, I think the mood has been obviously pretty low at the end of the games. But I think it's been really good to sort, of like get behind each other, to come together as a group. And we've definitely been able to pick ourselves up before every game so yeah, that'd be no different for India tomorrow," said Jones.
Probable XIs
England - Tammy Beaumont, Danielle Wyatt, Heather Knight (c), Natalie Sciver, Amy Ellen Jones (wk), Sophia Dunkley, Katherine Brunt, Sophie Ecclestone, Kate Cross/Freya Davies/Tash Farrant, Charlotte Dean, Anya Shrubsole.
India - Yastika Bhatia, Smriti Mandhana, Deepti Sharma, Mithali Raj (c), Harmanpreet Kaur, Richa Ghosh (wk), Sneh Rana, Pooja Vastrakar, Jhulan Goswami, Meghna Singh, Rajeshwari Gayakwad.
