India were thrashed at the hands of New Zealand at the ICC Women’s World Cup on Thursday, 10 March. Playing their second match in the premier tournament, India fell short by 62 runs while chasing a target of 261 set by the host team.
There were not a lot of bright spots in the game for India, but two individual performances and one legendary record could turn out to be the silver lining that the women’s team can jump off to turn the tide in the World Cup.
Indian team’s death bowling was a thing of beauty on the day, with Pooja Vastrakar and Jhulan Goswami wreaking havoc in the final 10 overs.
Both Jhulan and her junior partner pinged in yorkers with deadly accuracy and cleaned up the lower order before they could do much damage. While Vastrakar picked two in the lower order, Jhulan scalped the crucial wicket of Katey Martin who was going fluent at 41 off 51 balls. Jhulan ripped in a yorker that snuck through Martin, making her the 39th wicket for the Indian veteran.
The wicket equalled the record for most wickets in the Women’s World Cup by a single player. The Bengal pacer equalled the record of Lynn Fullston from Australia who was active between the years 1982-1988.
Goswami, a veteran for India debuted in 2002 and is currently 39 years old. She and her captain Mithali Raj are playing their last World Cup, a trophy that has been elusive in their playing career.