By Slogger
First publised on 2023-02-16 08:11:52
Indian
women continued with their excellent form in the second group match of the
ongoing T20 World Cup. They first restricted the West Indies to just 118 runs
with Deepti Sharma (3 for 15) being outstanding and then notched up the
required runs for the loss of just 4 wickets as Harmanpreet Kaur (33) and Richa
Ghosh (44 not out) stitched together a 72-run partnership for the fourth wicket
after India had lost three quick wickets.
Although
Smriti Mandhana (10), coming back in the side after skipping the first game
against Pakistan due to injury, and the hero of the first game Jemimah Rodrigues (1) failed,
Shafali Verma (28) and then Kaur and Ghosh ensured that India were through with
nearly two overs to spare. With this victory, they are at the top of the table
along with England.
When the
West Indies batted, they were pegged back in the middle overs after reaching 77
for 1 at one stage. They lost quick wickets to stand at 79 for 4 and could not
recover to make use of the death overs. The Indians bowled well and Deepti
Sharma became the first Indian, across gender, to take 100 wickets in T20
internationals. She did it in her 89th game.
The form
that the Indians are displaying in the tournament in all departments of the
game shows that they are one of the favourites to win the Cup. But to do that,
they will have to beat the Australians who are the firm favourites. If the
Indians play to potential in their match against Australia and have a game plan
for Meg Lanning, Alyssa Healy and other Australian batters, they can beat them
and bring the Cup home.