ICC WWC 2017, Match 2, IND v ENG: India to lock horns with hosts England in their opener

The stage is all set for an action-packed month of cricket as England host the 11th edition of the ICC Women’s World Cup, which is hours away from commencement. One of the title contenders and hosts England will be up against an on-song Indian contingent, which recently pulled off a spectacular win in the quadrangular series which included South Africa, Zimbabwe and Ireland.

Mithali Raj, the Indian skipper is the one their team would bank on heavily to get things going with the bat. She will be making her 178th ODI appearance on Saturday, which makes her the second highest capped player in the history behind Charlotte Edwards (191 caps). Skipper Mithali has been at the heart of their success in recent times and the country is expecting something big from her.

Opener Smriti Mandana will be making a comeback into the side after the 20-year-old missed out on the recently concluded quadrangular series. The bowling department too looks well sorted with the likes of Ekta Bisht, Jhulan Goswami and Shikha Pandey sharing the responsibility.

The English women led by Heather Knight a force to reckon with, considering the fact that they’ve lifted the world cup on the two previous occasions when they hosted the tournament (1973 and 1993). Tammy Beaumont, Lauren Winfield and Fran Wilson’s contribution with the willow might as well decide the outcome of the game and they’d be keen to get some runs after their names.

The fast bowling department led by the veteran Katherine Brunt looks pretty decent. Anya Shrubsole and Beth Langston will have to provide good support to their senior pro Brunt to ensure the belligerent Indian side doesn’t get a mammoth total on the board. Though it looks an evenly poised encounter on paper, the English women will enter as the favourites as they will look to maximise the home advantage.

Toss: England Women won the toss and opted to field

Captains speak

Heather Knight: “Nice way to start off. We are gonna bowl. A bit of cloud around; think it will be a good track. We have got a core group of senior players, which is nice, and then we have some playing their first World Cup. We have had some good warm-up games but cannot read too much into it. We want to play exciting cricket. We want to be brave.”

Mithali Raj: “I would have elected to bowl first too, due to the overcast conditions. Always good to use the track first. I am happy the way our momentum has been in the build-up to the World Cup. It’s good to win overseas series; gives a lot of confidence. English conditions will be different. She (Smriti Mandhana) is coming after a couple of months games, so I am sure she is very confident.”

Playing XI

England Women: Tammy Beaumont, Heather Knight(c), Sarah Taylor(w), Natalie Sciver, Fran Wilson, Danielle Wyatt, Katherine Brunt, Danielle Hazell, Jenny Gunn, Anya Shrubsole, Alex Hartley

India Women: Punam Raut, Smriti Mandhana, Deepti Sharma, Mithali Raj(c), Harmanpreet Kaur, Mona Meshram, Shikha Pandey, Jhulan Goswami, Ekta Bisht, Sushma Verma(w), Poonam Yadav

Focus will be on:

Smriti Mandhana (India)

Mithali Raj is the person who currently has to bear the majority of the heat, but the comeback girl Smriti Mandhana is someone you can’t be ignored. The 20-year-old Maharashtra batter will have a difficult job to see off the new ball, but if she’s getting in, she’ll score big. Mandana is making a comeback into the Indian side after a long time is likely to sneak into the playing eleven. She’ll be hungry for runs and has enough talent to pull off something special.

Sarah Taylor (England)

One of English women cricket’s most prolific run scorers, Sarah Taylor enters the tournament with a point to prove and she will be a tough nut to crack in the English middle order. She recently secured her 100th International cap for England and the 28-year-old wicketkeeper-batter in an interview that she’s back at her best and looking forward to piling up good runs. The experience that she brings to the table is really a great asset for skipper Heather Knight.

Combinations:

India

Mandana might land herself a spot in the playing 11 replacing Deepti Sharma and she’ll open the innings alongside Poonam Raut. With Mona Meshram, Mithali Raj, Harmanpreet Kaur and Veda Krishnamurthy in the middle order, India will be looking to post a good score on good batting tracks in England. Coming to the bowling department, Jhulan Goswami will lead the pack which also includes the likes of Shikha Pandey, Ekta Bisht and Rajeshwari Gaikwad.

England

Openers Amy Jones and Tammy Beaumont will have a crucial job on hand to provide the team a good start. Their skipper Knight also has been in good touch over the course of time and with Sarah Taylor returning, there’s no shortage of experience in the middle. Anya Shrubsole, Katherine Brunt and Beth Langston will be taking care of the fast bowling department. The fast bowlers are expected to get some lateral movement off the deck and hence, these three will pose some challenge to the Indian batters.

StatAttack

833 – In her last 15 innings, Mithali Raj has scored 833 runs at an average of 104.12.

6 – The English women won 6 out of the 9 games they played against India in World Cups.

16 – India have won 16 out of their previous 17 ODI matches.