Women’s Cricket World Cup 2022: Under-pressure India eager to rectify batting, fielding mistakes against confident West Indies – Firstcricket News, Firstpost

After getting their campaign off to a rollicking start, Team India were served a rude wake-up call in their 62-run defeat at the hands of New Zealand in their second outing of the 2022 ICC Women’s World Cup.

And just two days after the loss, they face another stern test at Hamilton against an upbeat West Indies side that have beaten heavyweights New Zealand and England so far in the tournament.

While the bowling department did well to restrict the White Ferns to 260 when a total in excess of 300 looked possible at one stage, thanks to Pooja Vastrakar’s superb 4/34 and some impressive death bowling led by Jhulan Goswami and Meghna Singh, the batting department once again was at fault for failing to score freely, allowing the dot-ball pressure to get the better of them in the run chase.

India’s fielding was also far from impressive on the day, with Mithali Raj among those dropping sitters and the constant fumbles giving the New Zealand batters far too many freebies.

And captain Mithali, coach Ramesh Powar and the rest of the leadership group will know that the time to act and get their batting and fielding in order is now. Another defeat on Saturday, and the Indian team could very well be playing catch-up for the rest of the tournament and face a tricky path to the semi-finals.

Mithali Raj’s strike rate has been a major cause for concern so far in the World Cup, and the India skipper will hope to silence her critics in the upcoming match against West Indies. AFP

In the pre-match press conference on Friday, coach Powar urged the senior players to lead from the front adding that solid performances from them could have a trickle-down effect on the rest of the squad.

“I want seniors to be putting their hands up, like Mithali (Raj), Smriti (Mandhana), Jhulan (Goswami), and win us the games single-handedly, because their participation and contributions in the win will brush off on the younger players,” the former India off-spinner said in the interaction with reporters.

Among the seniors however, the focus primarily is on Mithali at the moment. Both Smriti Mandhana and Harmanpreet Kaur have struck half-centuries so far, while Goswami remains impressive as ever in the bowling department, both in Powerplay 1 as well as in the slog overs, and is quite the handy bat down the order as well.

After her 36-ball 9 against Pakistan, Mithali was slightly better with her 31-run knock against the Kiwis on Wednesday, though her strike rate and ability to pinch the ones and twos quickly remained a problem. The 39-year-old, a veteran of 227 ODIs who led India to the final in the previous World Cup, will be itching to get a big score under her belt to silence the critics, and prove that she’s no passenger in New Zealand.

West Indies, meanwhile, couldn’t have asked for a better start to the tournament. Few would’ve counted them among the front-runners for the semi-final spots before the start of the tournament, but after their victories over the tournament hosts New Zealand and defending champions England they suddenly find themselves in the reckoning for a top-four finish at the end of the group stage.

What has also stood out in their performances in the tournament is their ability to hold their nerve in tense stages of the game. Both games, after all, went down to the wire with the Maroon Warriors registering single-digit victory margins in the two games.

It is, thus, safe to say that they enter the upcoming match against India with the upper hand and with the momentum in their favour, and will be backing themselves to pull off a hat-trick of wins that will take them to the top of the table.

At the forefront of their victories have been the all-round brilliance of Hayley Matthews, currently the second-highest run-getter who also happens to find herself in the top 10 wicket-takers. Matthews has had a hand in the two narrow victories, especially with her 119 and 2/41 against the White Ferns.

Naturally, the focus will be on the Barbadian opener and off-spinner and new-ball bowlers Goswami and Meghna will no doubt be eyeing her as the prized wicket at the top of the order.

The West Indians have also been among the more athletic sides in the tournament so far, as was evident in Deandra Dottin’s stunning one-handed diving catch at backward point to dismiss Lauren Winfield-Hill on Wednesday. India, on the other hand, have been guilty of letting go of opportunities, which they will hope to rectify come Saturday.

The wicket that was used for the New Zealand-India on Thursday turned out to be another good batting surface and could have had a second 300-plus total had the White Ferns not collapsed in the last five overs. The conditions are largely expected to remain the same in the 10th match of the World Cup, and both teams will certainly be eager to cross the 250-mark for the first time in the tournament.

Squads:

India: Smriti Mandhana, Shafali Verma, Deepti Sharma, Harmanpreet Kaur, Mithali Raj (c), Richa Ghosh (wk), Sneh Rana, Jhulan Goswami, Meghna Singh, Pooja Vastrakar, Rajeshwari Gayakwad, Taniya Bhatia, Poonam Yadav, Renuka Singh, Yastika Bhatia.

West Indies: Deandra Dottin, Hayley Matthews, Kycia Knight, Stafanie Taylor (c), Shemaine Campbelle (wk), Chedean Nation, Chinelle Henry, Aaliyah Alleyne, Shamilia Connell, Anisa Mohammed, Shakera Selman, Afy Fletcher, Karishma Ramharack, Rashada Williams, Cherry Ann Fraser

Venue: Seddon Park, Hamilton

Time: 6.30 am IST | 2.00 pm local

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