Cricket has seen big hits in the past decades. The new manifest led by colorful changes has made the game a household name with a player in every house and expert each street. However, the cricket for masses revolves around big names that have gained all the light with their heroics. For a new entrant, the stage is set but with umpteenth eyes staring. Women cricket which searches for a similar stage as their male counterparts also has to attract the heads worshipping Dhonis and Sachins.
The task is well led by players who have time and again shown their capabilities and have matched to the much like skillset of the male cricketers. With tournaments like WBBL and the evergreen ICC events, women are on a path to centuries and hattricks. Nonetheless, countries like India and Australia have been on the front pages when a female cricket is discussed. Associate nations are yet to receive their set of attention.
Amidst dense air, we have seen the successful completion of cricketing competition between Germany and Oman. Matches were from 3rd to 8th February 2020. German women toured Oman for a bilateral cricket series. The series comprised of four t20 games. The touring nation seized all the matches and recorded a memorable whitewash.
Oman Squad: Vaishali Jesrani (captain), Fiza Javed (vice-captain), Sakshi Shetty, Nikhita Jagadish, Yashika Verma, Hina Javed, Anshita Tiwari, Snehal Nair, Priyanka Mendonca, Bhakti Shetty, Anaya Shetty, Hira Javed, Sameera Khan, Sani-e-Zehra.
Germany Squad: Anuradha Doddaballapur (c), Emma Bargnani, Milena Beresford, Anne Bierwisch, Stephanie Frohnmayer, Christina Gough, Anna Healey, Suzanne McAnanama-Brereton, Antonia Meyenborg, Selina Meyenborg, Janet Ronalds, Verena Stolle, Karthika Vijayaraghavan, Peris Wadenpohl
The starter saw Germany batting first and posting a dominating 172 on the board. To much surprise, the hosts lost all their wickets for a mere 57. However, the home team bounced back, and the rest of the matches were not one-sided.
In the second match, Oman women fell short of three figures by a little, but their bowling unit gave a tight contest to German batters who had to see the match go till 18th over.
In the third match, German women opted to bat first and posted a heavy 124 on the board. The Oman bowling attack impressed again by sending half of the German line-up. While chasing, Oman could manage only 105.
For the fourth and last match, Germany went to batting on the used pitch again and came out with a competitive 128. Oman again took six German wickets, and came back with 105. Oman impressed the cricketing streets. Germany, on the other hand, dominated the stage. Al Amerat saw all the matches on their turf.
Interestingly, matches saw support from the local crowd. Such encounters take cricket to eyes which had not seen bats and balls. Game gains followers for life with heroes battling out for a name. Such stories from associate nations get a connection to cricketing hearts who have seen the rise of legends with a similar storyline. With learnings from the past, it is high time that the global cricket community receives the smaller stakeholders well. Time has shown that talent sees no boundaries.
A student who enjoys studying cricket more than anything else, keen to learn the insights of the women’s game.