A batting collapse saw India suffer a four-wicket defeat at the hands of defending champions England, ending a three-match losing streak at the ICC World Cup 2022 on Wednesday. Captain Heather Knight’s unbeaten half-century helped England chase down the target of 135 runs for the loss of six wickets.
India were bowled out for 134 at the Bay Oval after the England captain opted to bowl first, as India were poor with the bat. The performance was in stark contrast to his performance of 317/8 against West Indies in the previous match.
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Charlie Dean posted career-best figures of four for 23 to prop up India’s batting line-up as he justified Knight’s decision to bowl first on a fresh looking dry pitch.
India’s top and middle order did not work well. The defending champions bowled fuller, fielded well, took their catches and came out with a bang with their run outs.
Yastika Bhatia got India’s first boundary off Katherine Brunt with a gentle push into the gap between mid-on and mid-wicket. But Anya Shrubsole (2 for 20) gave England their first breakthrough as Bhatia pushed for a full inswinger with her body and saw the ball go to the stumps. Bhatia thus became Shrubsole’s 100th wicket in this format.
Smriti Mandhana hits a boundary with a free-flowing drive and a short-arm jab. But England, with a more active and more active attitude on the field, kept on attacking India.
Mithali Raj’s lean run continued as she slipped straight to cover-point, giving Shrubsole her second wicket in the power-play.
Dot balls pressure prevented Deepti Sharma from going off the mark, as a result of which she ran straight to mid-off and ran for a non-existent single. But Kate Cross hit a direct hit at mid-off, leaving Sharma outside the crease and ducking off 10 balls.
Mandhana and Harmanpreet Kaur shared a 50-ball 33-run partnership for the fourth wicket to normalize India’s situation.
But Dean’s entry in the 17th over changed the situation as the off-spinner dismissed Harmanpreet and Sneh Rana in the first over of the double wicket.
When Harmanpreet tried to play for the turn with a flight delivery outside off-stump, the ball caught its line and took an outside edge for keeper Amy Jones.
Rana’s promotion backfired as she went for a wide campaign, only to find the ball caught behind Jones. Mandhana tried to grab one end for India but she missed a sweep off left-arm spinner Sophie Ecclestone and went lbw in front of the off-stump.
Dean soon took her third wicket as Pooja Vastrakar missed a complete sweep and was trapped plumb lbw after avoiding a single call earlier in the over.
Richa Ghosh hit great boundaries on the front foot and back foot against Dean, Ecclestone and Cross. He was supported by Jhulan Goswami, who made good use of the long handle to hammer Dean and Cross for boundaries.
Just as the 37-run partnership was about to get bigger, Ghosh, despite a fine dive, was run out by a straight hit from mid-wicket off Nat Sciver, as replays showed his bat was centimeter up in the air, when Bells were damaged.
Goswami sliced straight from the cross to backward point and Dean clean bowled Meghna Singh for four wickets to end India’s woes.
England lost two wickets early but then the pair of Knight and Natalie Sciver stitched together a 65-run partnership to take the game away from India. Sciver fell for 45 but Knight continued to bat firmly.
India bounced back with a few sharp blows, but by then it was too late.
Brief Scores: England 136/6 (Heather Knight 53; Meghna Singh 3/26) beat India 134 (Smriti Mandhana 35; Charlie Dean 4/23) by four wickets
With IANS inputs
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