Brilliant fight back by team India put England in trouble from the beginning while batting second.
The England team managed to save their sinking boat by beating India by four wickets. In spite of having lost all their matches before this crucial match against India, there was immense pressure, especially on captain Heather Knight. Team England started with some disciplined bowling combined with attacking fielding and restricted India to 135 runs which might have looked like a low score but had team India managed to get another 30-50 runs the end story might have been totally different.
From the beginning, England bowlers restricted Indian batters. India made 39 for 3 in the 11th over in spite of a pitch that looked easy to bat on with a fast outfield.
With Yastika Bhatia (8 runs off 11 balls), Mithali Raj (1 run off 5 balls), and Deepti Sharma (0) all gone for just 28 runs on board, Harmanpreet Kaur and Smriti Mandhana combined to stitch a partnership from there yet another time taking India to 60 for 3 after 16 overs. Soon after, wickets fell regularly thanks to England bowlers’ accurate bowling. Anya Shrubsole picked up 2-20 while Charlie Dean, playing just her second World Cup match stood out with 4-23 in her spell of 8.2 overs. She took 2 crucial wickets of Kaur and Sneh Rana in the very first over of her bowling spell.
Jhulan Goswami and Richa Gosh kept England on their toes, showing the intent to put up a good score for India with Goswami smashing a six in the 32nd over and Ghosh getting a boundary in the same over to bring the score to 120 after 32 overs. Ghosh was run out after scoring 33 in the 34th over thanks to a brilliant pick-up and throw by Natalie Sciver.
Goswami was out after a well-made 20 off 26 balls in the 34th overs bowled by Kate Cross. Mandhana top-scored for India with 35 runs off 58 balls.
While chasing a modest score of 135, England were two wickets down with just four runs on board and it would have been 3-12 if Natalie Sciver would have been bowled for four had the bails fallen after the ball by Goswami kissed the middle stump. Sciver batted well for her 45 runs off 46 balls and got out to Pooja Vastrakar. Captain Knight with her 53 not out managed to steer England to get the first win of the tournament with four wickets in hand. Even though England managed to win this match – the batters made it look like a not-so-easy total to chase. Meghna Singh was impressive with the ball to take 3-26. Jhulan Goswami picked up one wicket to make her total tally of wickets to 250 – Another milestone for her.
Take Home for India – Consistency in performances by one and all is need of the hour
England – Recorded first victory in world cup 2022
Minoti Desai is a former India Test and ODI cricketer. She is also the author of the book “She The Cricketer”. This is an exclusive Column by Minoti Desai for FemaleCricket.com where she would express her thoughts around Team India’s campaign for the Women’s Cricket World Cup 2022
Minoti Desai is a former India Test and ODI cricketer. She is also the author of the book “She The Cricketer”