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ICC Women’s World Cup 2022 | India surrender without a fight against hosts New Zealand

Hapless India were handed a loss by 62 runs by a spirited New Zealand side on 10 March, Thursday in a crucial clash in the ICC Women’s World Cup. The loss saw India slipping down to fifth position in the league table with one win and a loss from their two games. A big loss in terms of NRR, India undid the good work they put up against Pakistan in their opening encounter of the World Cup and now have put themselves in a precarious position heading into tough games against West Indies, England and Australia. The Women in Blue will need to show up with strong performances in the next games if they wish to make it to the knockout stages of the tournament. Now, coming to the game. India had come into this clash with all the experience of playing against the very same White Ferns team minus Lauren Down - their lower order batter, who had turned out to be a force to reckon with in the recent past. Aiming to acclimatise to the conditions, India had experimented in their 5-match series, losing out on four straight games, before winning the final encounter. But, it did not seem on the day that they had learnt their lessons as tactical failures, combined with poor mentality lost them the game. Here’s how it happened. After winning the toss, India were put on the back foot for most part of the game with dominating performances in the middle order from Amelia Kerr and the ever-dependable Amy Satterthwaite. The duo added a run a ball 67 together before Kerr got out Rajeshwari Gayakwad in the 22nd over. But by then, the White Ferns had complete domination over the game scoring at a rate of 5.5 runs per over and set to close in on a big target. After Kerr got out on 50, Satterthwaite went on to score 75 off 84 balls before getting out to Pooja Vastrakar by chipping the ball in the 43rd over. While NZ were doing fairly well at 224/5 at that point, a spirited spell of bowling from Vastrakar and Jhulan Goswami turned the tide, and India were able to restrict NZ from scoring at the excess of 280. The pacers were particularly impressive with their yorkers, that sneaked through the defences of the NZ batters forcing out 4 single-digit scores out of their last 5 batters. The Slump Returning to bat, India definitely had the moment with them having rocked the hosts in the final 10 overs. But then started the struggle. India chose to go with three left handers at the top and not a single one could get the ball rolling in the first 20 overs. Scoring at a rate of two runs per over, India struggled to show any sort of dominance over the pacers and NZ’s off spinner, Frances Mackay. Yastika Bhatiya, Smriti Mandhana and Deepti Sharma chose to block most of the balls aimed at them and departed scoring 28, 6 and 5 respectively. Bhatiya, who had replaced Shafali Verma in the game, probably had the worst outing of the three, scoring runs at a SR of 47.46, hitting only two boundaries in her 59-ball stay. On the day, she could not find the gaps in the off side trap set for her and left the crease with a leading edge to cover off Lea Tahuhu. India’s tactical decisions were surprising on the day as they sent three lefties against an off spinner which resulted in negotiating leggie Amelia Kerr in the middle overs. Captain Mithali Raj had yet another horrendous outing and chose to defend balls while the required run-rate was soaring past 7. Her innings of 31 off 56 ended in a bizarre fashion when she stepped down half heartedly against a leg spinner and tried to fetch it from outside off stump. It resulted in her getting beaten by the littlest amount of turn on the ball and getting stumped by keeper Katey Martin. Kerr wasn’t done after removing Raj and in the very next ball cleaned up Richa Ghosh with a googly by uprooting her off stump. Reeling at 97/5 in the 30th over, India had very little chance to get back in the game. What they could essentially do was salvage the NRR by staying as long as they could and getting some runs under their belt. Harmanpreet Kaur seemed to understand the same and dug in through the tough phases of play. She launched a counterattack late in the day and scored her individual 50, possibly the only highlight of the Indian innings. The Women’s Big Bash League star, showed signs of getting back into form hitting six boundaries and two sixes alone. At the time of getting out, she had made 71 off 63 balls and stitched a 35-run partnership with veteran Jhulan Goswami off just 20 balls. With Harman getting out in the 44th over, there was nothing much left in the game and India were skittled out for 198 runs in 46.4 overs. Speaking after the game, captain Mithali Raj did not take any time to point out the failings of the top order before amending herself and sharing the blame with the middle order as well. She stated that India need one set batter throughout the innings to see through the game, essentially meaning that she herself would like to anchor the game. India take on steep competition in the next three games and have very little time to bounce back from the New Zealand defeat. The team and its management need to sit and work through their tactical misgivings from the game, else it could be early curtains for Team India from the ICC Women’s World Cup 2022.

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Watch | Mark Wood’s hilarious reaction after being left out of the team huddle

West Indies vs England is shaping up to be an interesting contest at the end of Day 2 in Sir Vivian Richards Stadium at Antigua. After a rain-marred day, the game seems to be evenly poised, with Windies recovering from a middle order collapse of sorts to post 202 runs for the loss of four wickets, still 109 runs behind England’s first innings score. Earlier in the day, Windies were able to cap off England for 311 runs in the morning session of Day 2, limiting the damage Jonny Bairstow had caused. The right-hander hit 140 runs off 259 balls before falling as the final wicket of the day for the visiting side. He was given a standing ovation for his brilliant show to rescue England from a top order disaster that had them reeling at 48/4. Coming into bowl, England found no luck with the new ball as Windies openers scored boundaries freely. However, with the ball getting older, England threatened with Mark Wood, Craig Overton and Ben Stokes - who were relentless with their probing lines and lengths. However, intermittent rainfall throughout the day marred the flow of the game, but it did not go without the antics of Mark Wood, off the ball. The England pacer was on the opposite side of the ground when captain Joe Root called for a team huddle, and could not arrive at the right time to discuss plans with the team. The pacer then, produced his hilarious self and imitated a team huddle before giving a thumbs up to the team. Watch the full incident below Wood was one of England’s best bowlers on the day, having troubled the hosts with his searing pace and reverse swing. He got the wicket of a set Windies captain who was looking threatening to go big and score a three-figure mark in the first Test match of the series. It needs to be noted that this is a new look pace attack from England as they try and move onto the next era of Test cricketers. The selection committee has chosen to snub legends Stuart Broad and James Anderson for the West Indies tour after the team’s horror show in Ashes Down Under.