Women’s T20 World Cup 2023: Harmanpreet Kaur’s India run into in-form England to claim top spot
India and England are set to face each other in a Group B match of the Women’s T20 World Cup 2023 on Saturday, February 18 at St George’s Park, Gqeberha.
England, led by Heather Knight, are currently sitting on top of the table with two points and a net run rate of +2.497, the best among the 10 teams in the tournament.
After beating Hayley Matthews’ West Indies by seven wickets, Knight’s women defeated Laura Delany’s Ireland by four wickets. Although they stuttered a wee bit against Ireland, Alice Capsey’s 21-ball fifty saved the day for them.
India, led by Harmanpreet Kaur, also won their first two matches against Pakistan and West Indies and are high on confidence. Although they had an almighty scare when they faced Bismah Maroof and Co, India were pretty clinical against their Caribbean unit.
But numbers don’t quite support India ahead of their next game. In the Women’s T20 World Cups, the Women in Blue have lost all five of their matches against their English opponents.
Head to Head
Overall
Matches – 26, India – 7, England – 19
In T20 World Cups
Matches – 5, India – 0, England – 5
Players to watch out for
Richa Ghosh (India)
Richa Ghosh has emerged as a decent finisher for India over the last few months. After winning the U19 T20 World Cup, the 19-year-old has come out all guns blazing in the senior tournament. The youngster has scored 75 runs from two matches at a strike-rate of 144.23. Most importantly, she is yet to be dismissed in the tournament.
Sophie Ecclestone (England)
Sophie Ecclestone has been among the standout bowlers in the championship. The left-arm spinner has six wickets to her name at an economy rate of 4.50. Having already picked up two three-wicket hauls, the southpaw’s confidence will be pretty high. She is most likely to operate in the middle-order and the Indian batters need to be careful while facing him.
Probable XIs
India
Smriti Mandhana, Shafali Verma, Jemimah Rodrigues, Harmanpreet Kaur (c), Richa Ghosh (wk), Deepti Sharma, Pooja Vastrakar, Devika Vaidya, Radha Yadav, Rajeshwari Gayakwad, Renuka Thakur Singh
England
Danielle Wyatt, Sophia Dunkley, Alice Capsey, Nat Sciver-Brunt, Heather Knight (c), Amy Jones (wk), Sophie Ecclestone, Charlotte Dean, Katherine Sciver-Brunt, Sarah Glenn, Lauren Bell