Confident India target Windies

Taunton, June 28

Brimming with confidence after shocking world No. 2 England, India would look to continue the winning momentum when they take on West Indies in their second match of the ICC Women’s World Cup here tomorrow.

The Indian eves could not have asked for a better start to the tournament as they stunned hosts England by 35 runs in their tournament-opener.

West Indies, incidentally, had lost to world No. 1 Australia by eight wickets in their opening match.

Fine show

It was a fine all-round performance by India that helped them beat England as the visiting team excelled in all three departments of the game. First the batters piled up a very competitive 281/3, before the bowlers bundled out England for 246 in 47.3 overs. The Indian fielders rose to the occasion, effecting four run-outs.

Openers Smriti Mandhana (90), Poonam Raut (86), Mithali Raj (71) and Harmanpreet Kaur (24 not out) excelled with the bat, while off-spinner Deepti Sharma (3/47), medium-pacer Shikha Pandey (2/35) and leg-spinner Poonam Yadav (1/51) were among the wickets.

Captain Mithali said the win has boosted the team’s confidence. “We won against the hosts in the World Cup when we have only four or five girls who have played in a World Cup before — for the rest, it was their first World Cup,” she said today. “So considering all those factors, it’s great that the team has done well but it’s only the first game.”

Opening show

“We still have six more games in the group stage, so I just hope the girls continue this form,” she added. “All games are going to be very close and intense. I hope that the team really improves over the coming matches.”

Talking about the openers, Mithali said: “They (Raut and Mandhana) just played each ball on its merit and kept going to 25 overs. Half of our overs were played by our openers, which is a great stand and we are now looking for similar opening partnerships in the coming games.”

“If you have a solid opening partnership then the middle order can carry on from there, which makes it much easier to post 250 and above,” added the captain. “That’s always a good score in a game of women’s cricket.”

Dangerous WI

Come tomorrow, the Indians would want to put up a repeat show against the dangerous West Indians, who will be desperate to register their first win in the tournament.

Mithali, whose first target is to make the semifinals, is coming off a record-breaking run of seven successive half-centuries, and she would look to continue in the same vein. Jhulan Goswami, the highest-ever wicket-taker in ODIs, did not pick up wickets against England, but she would be leading the bowling attack.

As far as their recent form is concerned, India comprehensively won their last four ODI series, first whitewashing Sri Lanka and West Indies at home and then beating South Africa in the finals of the World Cup qualifier and the quadrangular series.

Going by the outcome of their recent clashes, India will definitely start as favourites tomorrow. 

In the other match of the day, defending champions Australia will play Sri Lanka. — TNS, Agencies