India go for a whitewash

Mumbai, February 27

The series already in the bag with two wins, India will go for a whitewash when they take on a beleaguered England in the third and final women’s One-day International here tomorrow. 

The Mithali Raj-led India had thrashed the reigning world champions by 66 runs in the opening ODI and followed it up with a dominant seven-wicket win in the second game to seal the three-match series. 

More importantly, India grabbed four crucial points in the ICC Women’s Championship as the race to secure direct qualification spots for the 2021 World Cup heats up. With two more points up for grabs, the hosts would not like to experiment by making any changes to the line-up tomorrow.

Smriti, Raj to the fore

India seem to have found the winning momentum under new coach WV Raman as they ticked most boxes in the last two games. Opener Smriti Mandhana has been in splendid form, her classy 63 in the second ODI helping the hosts clinch the match and series. Mithali had scores of 44 and 47 in the last two games. Both Smriti and Mithali would like to continue in this vein.

The experienced Punam Raut, who made a comeback to the ODI side, justified her selection over Harleen Deol by chipping in with a handy 32in the second ODI. Punam’s inclusion seems to have sorted out the middle-order woes. But she and young opener Jemimah Rodrigues, both from Mumbai, need to convert their starts into bigger scores. The likes of Deepti Sharma, Mona Meshram and wicketkeeper Taniya Bhatia also need to chip in if the top-order falters.

The Indian seamers and spinners have been impressive. Veteran pacer Jhulan Goswami (5 wickets in 2 ODIs) and Shikha Pandey (6 wickets) have troubled the visitors. England have also found it difficult to face the Indian spin trio of Deepti Sharma, Poonam Yadav and Ekta Bisht. Slow left-arm orthodox bowler Ekta spun India to victory with a four-wicket haul in the first ODI.

England suffered a blow after allrounder Sophie Ecclestone was ruled out of the third ODI and remainder of the tour due to a fractured hand. On current form, the hosts will again start as favourites, though England can’t really be ruled out. — PTI