England brought an end to their streak of three straight losses with a four-wicket win over India in a must-win encounter on Wednesday to keep alive their chance of defending the Women’s Cricket World Cup title. India, on the other hand, have got themselves in a pickle after the defeat.
A victory against the English side would have put Mithali Raj and Co on the brink of qualification for the semi-finals, but the defeat has put them in a situation where further losses could even eliminate them from the competition. The worrying fact is that they next face Australia, the record six-time World Cup winners, who are on a fourth-match winning streak.
We take a look at how the team has performed so far in the tournament, and all that they need to do to qualify for the semi-finals.
How have India fared so far?
India started their campaign on winning not against arch-rivals Pakistan. After a batting collapse, Pooja Vastrakar and Sneha Rana forged a 122-run partnership for the seventh wicket and India finished with a total of 244/7. In reply, Pakistan were shot out for 137 and India won the match by 107 runs.
Another poor batting display saw India lose their next game by 62 runs against New Zealand. In reply to the White Ferns 260/9, India were bowled out for 198 in a match in which they played a total of 162 dot balls.
Their batting improved exponentially in the next match against West Indies as Smriti Mandhana and Harmanpreet Kaur struck centuries and stitched a 184-run stand to help India get past a total of 300 for the first time in a World Cup match. India won the match by 155 runs with West Indies folding for 162.
The batting revival didn't last long and another inconsistent performance saw India lose to England by four wickets. Batting first, India only made 134 on a batting-friendly track. England won the match with 112 balls to spare.
How can they reach the semi-finals?
With two wins so far, India are third in the eight-team points table with four points. They boast a Net Run Rate of +0.632.
Mithali's team has three more matches remaining at the ICC event and three wins from those games should definitely guarantee qualification to the last four stage of the tournament. But one of those matches is against the heavyweights Australia who are not only the firm favourites in that match but also for the title.
If India lose to Australia, they must win against world No 2 South Africa and Bangladesh to stay in contention for the semi-finals. At the same time, they should aim for big-margin wins to strengthen their NRR which could play a big role in deciding the semi-finals teams.
India's remaining fixtures:
19 March vs Australia
22 March vs Bangladesh
27 March vs South Africa
What improvements does the team need?
India's bowling has been excellent across the four matches so far. Meghna Singh and Vastrakar have proved to be able partners to Jhulan Goswami in the pace department. Rajeshwari Gayakwad and Sneh Rana have also picked up wickets consistently. It's India's batting that needs to step up.
They scored the highest total of the ongoing tournament — 317 — against West Indies and then went on to register their lowest total — 134 — since the 2009 World Cup against England. Indian batters need to find consistency. And they need to score runs at a quicker rate. The pressure of dot balls is what led to the collapses against Pakistan and New Zealand.
India captain Mithali has struggled the most for runs. After four matches, her scores read 9, 31, 5, and 1. Veteran Goswami, however, feels Mithali is just one big knock away from returning to form.
"I don't think it (lack of runs from No 3 and 4) is a concern. You know who is batting at No 3, it's Mithali Raj. (She) is just one big knock away from her start. Past (previous) series also she was batting fantastically. It's just (that she is) one big knock away from (hitting form) in this tournament. I think Deepti also did a pretty decent job. And (at) No 5 Harman (Harmanpreet Kaur) is playing, so I don't think so we have an issue. It's just one bad day that we didn't click as a batting unit," Goswami said after the England loss.
"It is a process and the game goes like it. Some day (the) top order will not work, someday middle order will not work; this is how this game has been played...but definitely, it is a learning process, every day we try to address certain issues. We will definitely solve those issues and come back strongly."
Let's hope they come back strongly!
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