After a commendable start to the ICC Women’s T20 World cup 2023, the Women in Blue are preparing to face 2 European teams back-to-back in Group B. India won their opening game against arch rivals Pakistan as Jemimah Rodrigues (53 off38) and Richa Ghosh (31 off 20) guided the team to a 7-wicket win.
.@JemiRodrigues scored a stunning 5⃣3⃣* in the chase & bagged the Player of the Match award as #TeamIndia commenced their #T20WorldCup campaign with a win over Pakistan 🙌 👏
Scorecard ▶️ https://t.co/OyRDtC9SWK #INDvPAK pic.twitter.com/JvwfFtMkRg
— BCCI Women (@BCCIWomen) February 12, 2023
.@JemiRodrigues scored a superb unbeaten half-century & was #TeamIndia's top performer from the second innings of the #INDvPAK #T20WorldCup clash 👍 👍
Here's a summary of her knock 🔽 pic.twitter.com/FEnB7uHbbg
— BCCI Women (@BCCIWomen) February 12, 2023
West Indies were up next and India kept their standards intact and registered a similar victory as the first match. The Blues chased down 118 runs in 18.1 overs with Shafali Verma (33), Smriti Mandhana (10), Richa Ghosh (44) and Harmanpreet Kaur’s (33) contribution was enough to win the game at Newlands.
.@13richaghosh scored an unbeaten 44*(32) in a successful chase for #TeamIndia and was our Top Performer from the second innings 👏🏻👏🏻
A look at her batting summary 👌🏻
Scorecard ▶️ https://t.co/OwonYGMAQX…#INDvWI | #T20WorldCup pic.twitter.com/utRm5T2lUJ
— BCCI Women (@BCCIWomen) February 15, 2023
But the only thing that India lacked was a greater net run rate (+0.590) and as a result they missed out from taking the top spot in Group B. However, they have a chance to go #1. Beat the Three Lions tomorrow at the St. George’s Oval. England are currently leading as a result of a superior NRR of +2.497.
One of the positives from India’s fixture against West Indies was the performance of the bowling unit. But Indian bowlers will have to accelerate their Work rate bowl efficiently against an England battling line-up boasting of players like Alice Capsey, Danni Wyatt, Sophia Dunkley and Heather Knight among others.
India will have to be wary of youngster Alice Capsey who will enter the game with a lot of confidence after scoring the joint-fastest fifty in Women’s T20 World Cup history. In terms of Batting, Smriti Mandhana’s comeback from Injury is a good news and she will look get some runs under her belt.
A little bit of consistency will be asked from Jemimah Rodrigues while Richa Ghosh, Harmanpreet Kaur and Shafali Verma’s form will be a positive against England. India’s main threat against the Europeans will be Charlie Dean, Sophie Ecclestone and Sarah Glenn.
India’s tie against England will take place tomorrow from 6:00 PM onwards (Indian standard time).
