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Women's World Cup: Indian batters cave in against England
A match after scoring 300 plus in a big win over West Indies, the 2017 runners-up were skittled out for 134 as the defending champions won by four wickets at Mount Maunganui.
When India carved out a 155-run victory over West Indies in their third match of the ICC Women’s World Cup, it gave an impression that the Mithali Raj-led team had rediscovered their winning ways and were ready to launch themselves into the remaining games against defending champions England, favourites Australia, Bangladesh and South Africa in pursuit of claiming the title.
But it seems India still have to solve problems as their below average performance at Mount Maungunui’s Bay Oval on Wednesday allowed England to dominate them. Overcoming the disappointment of losing three losses on the trot, England came hard at the Indian team, recording a four-wicket win in the end, taking their first points of the tournament. The defeat has dented India’s chances of reaching the semi-finals though they were tied third with hosts New Zealand and West Indies.
India will hope they don’t lose by a big margin against Australia in their next game on Saturday to qualify for the semi-finals. India play Bangladesh on Tuesday with their final league fixture against South Africa on March 27.
Knowing the importance of winning the game, England captain Heather Knight opted to field on winning the toss. Anya Shrubsole destroyed the Indian top-order by removing opener Yastika Bhatia (8) and No 3 Raj (1). Shrubsole claimed her 100th ODI wicket when she removed Bhatia in the fourth over.
Kate Cross did not allow Deepti Sharma to open her account and ran her out, putting India in a spot of bother. From 28/3, Smriti Mandhana and vice-captain Harmanpreet Kaur took the total to 61. Playing in her second World Cup game, off-spinner Charlie Dean removed Kaur for 14. India came under more pressure with Dean sending Sneh Rana back just two balls after Kaur was out.
With India reeling at 61/5 in 16.4 overs, it was left to Mandhana and Richa Ghosh to do the repair work and take the team to a respectable total. Before Mandhana could progress, the world No 1 ranked ODI bowler, left-arm spinner Sophie Ecclestone, trapped the left-handed opener in front for 35 runs. With the help of a cameo from Ghosh (33) and Jhulan Goswami’s (20) effort, India crossed the 100-mark but were bowled out for 134 in 36.2 overs.
The Indian batting collapsed and never looked like it would recover. Dean bagged four wickets.
Even thinking of a win defending such a small target would have been very ambitious for India. Captain Heather Knight and Nat Sciver used their experience to take England to an easy triumph, scoring 53 not out and 45 respectively. The duo added 65 runs off 84 balls after India struck to reduce the innings to two for four runs. England chased down the target in 31.4 overs, losing six wickets. Though Indian bowlers bagged the early wickets, England never lost track of the chase.
Medium-pacer Meghna Singh was the pick of the Indian bowlers, claiming 3/26. Goswami, already the most successful World Cup bowler, claimed her 250th ODI wicket when she got opener Tammy Beaumont early.
Speaking after the loss, Mithali Raj said, “We definitely didn't have partnerships at the top of order despite getting what we wanted (to bat first) after losing the toss. When you lose, you always think you are short of runs. The thought of putting 200 plus, the match could have gone either way. Every game as a fielding unit we are doing well and we hope to continue to do that.
"Batting is a concern but we will have to address that next match knowing we are playing a team that has not lost.” India’s net run rate is down to 0.632 from 1.333, while England’s has gone up to 0.351 from -0.156. India women will have to win their remaining three matches to stay in the reckoning for a semi-final berth.
India will travel to Auckland for their next game against Australia on Saturday.
