Women`s WC: After refreshing break, India eyes win over formidable England
In the thick of the festive spirit, all cities in India make for an illuminating look through decorative lights, diyas lit up in various shapes and joy being all around.
Amidst this festive atmosphere and heat being at its best, a refreshed India will be back in action to restart its quest of entering the semi-finals when it faces a formidable England in a must-win clash at the Holkar Stadium on Sunday.
By the time the match will be on, one can expect for the 30,000-seater stadium located bang in the centre of the city to be packed to the rafters. The buzz around the India-England clash has already spilled into the city, with locals starting to make their match-day predictions with the casual ease of seasoned pundits.
But inside the Indian dressing room, despite having a relaxing week-long break, the mood is bound to be serious. India’s campaign, buoyed by early wins over Sri Lanka and Pakistan, is now at a precarious point after defeats to South Africa and Australia in Visakhapatnam.
The SENA phase of the competition - South Africa, England, New Zealand, Australia -was always going to be the litmus test for the hosts’, and with two losses, the focus for India will now be in getting the better of England, who are unbeaten and arrive with momentum, especially after rain in Colombo helped them escape a huge scare against Pakistan.
For India, improving the dot ball percentage, not perishing to left-arm spinners and tweaking the five-bowling combination are major concerns. India’s middle order has been the backbone of its campaign so far, and repeatedly bailing the team out of early collapses.
Against Australia, openers Smriti Mandhana and Pratika Rawal made big runs in a 155-run opening stand. But a lower-order collapse meant they finished at 330, which Australia chased down in a nail-biting chase. Against a side like England, who are relentless with the ball and punish passivity from the opposition batters’, India cannot afford any slip-ups.
They will need their top five batters to fire again and take charge of keeping dot ball percentage low, something which has been a teething concern through the tournament. They also need to take down the challenge from left-arm spin duo of Sophie Ecclestone and Linsey Smith, who are amongst top ten leading wicket-takers in the competition.
India may also be needed to rethink its team combination, especially after defeats to Australia and South Africa showed the fragility of playing with five bowlers in a 50-over game. Though skipper Harmanpreet Kaur stepped as the sixth bowler against South Africa, additional bowling reinforcements could be crucial against England, who are heavily dependent on captain Nat Sciver-Brunt and Heather Knight.
The sixth bowler will be needed by India, not just for control, but also for creating breakthroughs when the pressure mounts. With England having a vulnerability against inswingers, Renuka Singh Thakur will be a valuable inclusion, but in whose place she comes, makes for an interesting watch.
Meanwhile, touted as outside contenders for the trophy, England managed to briefly be on top of the points table, before being eclipsed by Australia. But beneath the surface of an unbeaten campaign, their progress has been anything but assured.
Their wins have masked some of the recurring vulnerabilities - against Bangladesh, they were 101/6 before Heather’s rescue act helped them get over the line. In their win over Sri Lanka, only Nat crossed 35 and went on to make a century. Against Pakistan, they were 78/7 when rain intervened and helped them escape with a point.
With India and Australia looming, England’s semi-final spot may look safe, but still not having that guarantee to enter the last four stage.
Outside Heather, Nat and to some extent Charlie Dean, rest of them have flattered to deceive – with Emma Lamb, miscast at number six, and Tammy Beaumont, slowly becoming a walking wicket against inswingers, being under the heaviest scrutiny.
Since their thumping ten-wicket win over South Africa in Guwahati, their top order has failed to survive the powerplay unscathed. If pacers have stifled them in the first ten overs, the spinners then come over to stifle England’s run-flow in the middle overs. What would be the solution to England’s batting woes from head coach Charlotte Edwards makes for an interesting look.
In all, India will need to deliver a sustained, top-tier performance to overcome England, something which they’ve struggled with consistently in the tournament so far. They wouldn’t just need flashes of brilliance, because a cohesive overall execution is the need of the hour.
As they enter a make-or-break stage of the tournament and with little room for error, time is ripe for India to need to raise their game in every department. There’s no better moment to do it than now - beating England during the Diwali frenzy in cricket-loving Indore.
When: Sunday, October 19, 3:00 PM IST
Where: Holkar Stadium, Indore
Where to watch: Star Sports Network for live TV broadcast and JioHotstar for live streaming
Squads
India: Harmanpreet Kaur (c), Smriti Mandhana (vc), Pratika Rawal, Harleen Deol, Jemimah Rodrigues, Richa Ghosh, Uma Chetry, Renuka Singh Thakur, Deepti Sharma, Sneh Rana, Sree Charani, Radha Yadav, Amanjot Kaur, Arundhati Reddy, and Kranti Gaud.
England: Nat Sciver-Brunt (c), Em Arlott, Tammy Beaumont, Lauren Bell, Alice Capsey, Charlie Dean, Sophia Dunkley, Sophie Ecclestone, Lauren Filer, Sarah Glenn, Amy Jones, Heather Knight, Emma Lamb, Linsey Smith, and Danni Wyatt-Hodge.
