On Wednesday, in the 15th match of the ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup, England were chasing 135 in 50 overs against India.
England did not get off to the best of starts as they lost their opening pair of Danielle Wyatt (1 run off 3 balls) and Tammy Beaumont (1 run off 10 balls) cheaply inside three overs. England were struggling at 2-4 in three overs before captain Heather Knight and vice-captain Natalie Sciver came together to stitch a 65-run partnership for the third wicket. Sciver was at her aggressive best as she muscled a 46-ball 45, including eight boundaries to take the game away from India. Amy Jones and Sophie Dunkley made useful contributions in the middle order as they mustered 10 runs off 28 balls and 17 runs off 21 balls respectively. Captain Knight top-scored for England with a delectable 53 not out off 72 balls. Her innings was embellished with eight boundaries. England chased down the modest score of 135 in 31.2 overs, winning the match by four wickets.
For India, the right-arm medium pace bowler Meghna Singh was the pick of the bowlers as she scalped 3-26 in her 7.2 overs, including as many as three maidens, which was the highest in the match. Singh struck on her very first ball as she sent Wyatt packing. She received good support from Jhulan Goswami, Rajeshwari Gayakwad and Pooja Vastrakar, who accounted for one wicket apiece. In the process, Goswami became the first player to scalp 250 wickets in women’s ODI cricket. The Indian fielding looked good as they held onto some good catches.
England’s Charlotte Dean won the player of the match for her match-winning bowling performance. The right arm off-spinner playing just her second World Cup match struck with 4-23 in 8.2 overs, including one maiden. To date, this is the second-best bowling figure in this edition of ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup.
England beat India in a do-or-die match!
England’s World Cup hope survives #CWC22 #ENGvIND pic.twitter.com/mEYiKv4GEq
— Female Cricket #CWC22 (@imfemalecricket) March 16, 2022
With this win, England have registered their first win in their World Cup campaign, while India have won two out of their four matches in the tournament so far.
England and India will play their next fixtures on March 20 against New Zealand and March 19 against Australia respectively.
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I am a former cricketer having represented Mumbai University at All India University level. I was a part of MCA probables for the U-19 and U-23 age group. I have been an avid cricket writer for the last five years. Currently I am pursuing my Ph.D from IIT Bombay.
