Time to shift gears

After humbling Asian opponents Sri Lanka and Pakistan, India now start a crucial phase of their Women’s World Cup campaign with four tough matches lined up back to back.

After taking on South Africa and defending champions Australia in Visakhapatnam, India will face England and New Zealand in Indore and Navi Mumbai, respectively.

The Harmanpreet Kaur-led side will be looking to start this phase by grabbing full points against South Africa at the Dr YS Rajasekhara Reddy ACA-VDCA Cricket Stadium.

While the middle-order led by Amanjot Kaur and Deepti Sharma saved the day for the hosts in the tournament opener against Sri Lanka, in the next encounter it was pacers Kranti Goud and Renuka Singh who helped India overcome Pakistan.

On both occasions, India set a competitive target while batting first, but it was the bowlers who smartly defended the total. However, the lack of runs from Smriti Mandhana, Harmanpreet and Jemimah Rodrigues is something the side would need to work upon.

Also in focus will be the availability of Amanjot, who missed the previous match due to reported illness. In her absence, Renuka filled in perfectly. However, Amanjot offers a batting option down the order, which will be required against the Proteas. “She didn’t have an injury, she was just having a fever, but she looks good to me,” Jemimah said on the eve of the match.

Jemimah said it was a good sign that the team is winning despite not playing its best cricket. “It’s scary for the opponents to know that we have not had our perfect match yet, but we are still on a winning streak. We are still waiting for that perfect match to come and I think in such tournaments, because it’s so long, it’s important to peak at the right time,” she said.

While talking about the top-order’s run drought, Jemimah backed openers Smriti and Pratika Rawal to come good. “We have had small contributions from the top-order and the middle-order. I think it’s more of a motivation when we know that even though we didn’t have a perfect game yet, we are still

winning,” she said.

Jemimah has scored 32 runs in two matches. “In the first match, the ball was too good and I couldn’t do much. Against Pakistan, I had a good partnership. I didn’t see my own score as the team’s score was more important. That wicket in Colombo was challenging, so we took our time and gave a foundation to the rest of the team, so we could reach 250,” she said.

With two wins, India are in third position, while South Africa are fifth. They bounced back from their opening defeat to get their campaign back on track. South Africa showed considerable resolve to move on from their 10-wicket defeat against England after getting all out for 69. Led by opener Tazmin Brits, they powered to a six-wicket win over New Zealand. Brits posted a century, while Sune Luus made a patient half-century.