Published: Mar 26, 2016, 10:34 AM (IST)
Edited: Mar 26, 2016, 01:04 PM (IST)
India Women will square off with West Indies Women in a must-win match to keep their slight chance alive in T20 Women’s World Cup 2016. The match is set to be played at Mohali. West Indies have an upper hand with two wins while India lack way behind in the race with two defeats and just a single victory in their kitty. This becomes the only game to prove their stance to remain in the tournament, while the Caribbean ladies could earn spot in the semi-final with yet another win in this victory. The previous two matches for India have been disastrous losing by mere two wickets against England and two runs against arch-rivals Pakistan respectively. While West Indies remain at No.2 position, India are stuck at No.4 in points table of Group B of Women’s World T20. The only hope India now have is to see how Pakistan perform in their next match against England on the same day which will decide which side will go through. FULL CRICKET SCORECARD: India vs West Indies, Women’s T20 World Cup 2016, Match 18 at Mohali
India had set the bar high with a win against Bangladesh in first match of the tournament, with skipper Mithali Raj in excellent form, where she top-scored with 42. Vellaswamy Vanitha, Harmanpreet Kaur and Veda Krishnamurthy played key roles in the match as they steered India to a match-winning score. Their bowlers too backed up the performance of their batsmen, restricting Bangladesh Women for just 91. In the match against Pakistan, India were defeated by two runs by D/L method, a match that belonged to the eves with their all-round performance. Harmanpreet and Mithali have been prominent in every match so far and could be observed in their last match against England as well.
From the bowlers’ perspective, Ekta Bisht has been played exceptionally grabbing 4 for 21 and Harmanpreet picking two scalps against England. Anuja Patil and Poonam Yadav gave the required impetus in the match against Bangladesh leading the eves to their first win.
In retrospection, West Indies have a balanced team with Stefanie Taylor providing heroic all-round feat in every match. She was also named the Player of the Match playing against Bangladesh for her bowling figures of 3 for 13 by the end of 4 overs. Chipping in some runs and grabbing wickets at regular intervals alongside were Dean Dottin, Healey Matthews and Shaquana Quintyne in match against England, Pakistan and Bangladesh.
Considering the way India are moving in the tournament and how West Indies have achieved win in every game with ease, the ball lies with West Indies. But Eves can turn the tables and may sail through semi-final in the most unexpected way.
Squads:
India Women: Mithali Raj (c), Rajeshwari Gayakwad, Thirush Kamini, Veda Krishnamurthy, Nagarajan Niranjana, Anuja Patil, Deepti Sharma, Sushma Verma (wk), Ekta Bisht, Jhulan Goswami, Harmanpreet Kaur, Smriti Mandhana, Shikha Pandey, Poonam Yadav, Vellaswamy Vanitha
West Indies Women: Stafanie Taylor (c), Merissa Aguilleira (wk), Shamilia Connell, Deandra Dottin, Stacy-Ann King, Kyshona Knight, Anisa Mohammed, Tremayne Smartt, Shakera Selman, Shemaine Campbelle, Britney Cooper, Afy Fletcher, Kycia Knight, Hayley Matthews, Shaquana Quintyne
TIME: 15:30 IST | 10:00 GMT
(Shruti Hariharan is Content Writer with CricketCountry. You can follow her on Twitter at @Shruti_2890)
