Indian women’s team would like to win the third match against New Zealand. Indian women’s team would like to win the third match against New Zealand
Digital Desk, Queenstown. The Indian team’s performance in the ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup to be held in New Zealand next month has not gone according to plan. The Mithali Raj-led side, after losing the first two matches of the five-match series, will now look to win the third ODI at the John Davis Oval on Friday to prevent hosts New Zealand women from clinching the series.
It will be a relief for India that Smriti Mandhana, Renuka Singh and Meghna Singh have come out after completing extended quarantine periods and will be available for the do-or-die match. India will hope that Jhulan Goswami, who was ruled out of the second ODI due to a throat problem, will be available for Friday’s match.
There was some improvement in batting from the first ODI, as India scored 270 in the second match. Meanwhile, Deepti Sharma took four wickets for 52 runs, but it was not enough for India to prevent New Zealand from winning the match.
Mithali Raj has provided solidity in the batting line-up, while youngster Richa Ghosh’s 65 has boded well for the middle order, although there is no word on her injury. S Meghana has been welcomed at the top in Smriti’s absence and it remains to be seen where she will bat as Smriti returns.
India will hope that Harmanpreet Kaur will get some more chances after injuries and getting infected with Kovid-19. Another aspect that India would like to improve on is taking wickets in the middle overs. But with Meghna and Renuka available, India will now have more options to experiment with, which bodes well for them ahead of the World Cup.
Nothing to worry about for New Zealand. Amelia Kerr’s brilliant century in the second match proved to be a masterstroke, proof of their experimentation ahead of the mega event. Suzie Bates scored a century in the first match and it is expected that captain Sophie Devine will also play a better innings soon. Jess Kerr’s form with the new ball has been impressive for the Kiwis.
The match will start at 3:30 PM IST and will be streamed live on Amazon Prime Video in India.
Both the teams are as follows-
Indian women’s team: Sabhineni Meghna, Shaifali Verma, Yastika Bhatia, Mithali Raj (c), Harmanpreet Kaur, Richa Ghosh (wk), Deepti Sharma, Pooja Vastrakar, Poonam Yadav, Rajeshwari Gaikwad, Sneh Rana, Meghna Singh, Tania Bhatia (wk), Renuka Singh , Smriti Mandhana, Jhulan Goswami and Simran Bahadur.
New Zealand women’s team: Sophie Devine (c), Suzie Bates, Amelia Kerr, Amy Satterthwaite, Maddy Green, Katie Martin (wk), Brooke Holliday, Hayley Jensen, Jess Kerr, Rosemary Mair, Fran Jonas, Lee Tahuhu, Lauren Down, Frances McKay, Hannah Rowe .
(IANS)
