2023 is shaping up to be a landmark year for Indian women’s cricket. A victory at the inaugural Under-19 Women’s T20 World Cup and the inaugural of the women’s IPL will ensure that this year will go down in history.
With a win over the Irish team albeit in a rain-affected game, Harmanpreet and the company are through to the semi-finals. Even though the Ireland Women’s team put up a great fight, the rain did not allow a full game, but the Indian team won by five runs because the Irish team fell five runs short of the DLS par score after eight overs.
Although the Indian team has a poor track record in the knockout stages, it appears that this team has enough confidence and is willing to give it their all on the field regardless of the results.
Collective efforts have been key to the Indian team’s victories
With the help of their strong combination of Shafali Verma, Smriti Mandhana, Richa Ghosh, and Renuka Singh, the team have reached the WT20 World Cup knockout round. Winning three out of four games in the league’s stage, the women in blue have shown grit and confidence in the tournament so far and will look to show the dominant character in the knockouts as well.
The vice captain of the team- Smriti Mandhana with her anchoring 87 run knock allowed the Indian team to reach a total of 155 runs, which was enough to secure the victory by five runs under the DL method.
It often depends on a team’s availability of a swinging bowler in these windy conditions, and India does have one with the name Renuka behind her back. Renuka has been exceptional ever since she joined the Indian set-up, she already has seven wickets in this tournament including a five-wicket haul and that too against England, the only that defeated the Indian team in their league stage.
With Jemimah scoring a half-century in the first game, Shafali Verma giving strong starts, and Richa hammering bowlers in the final overs, team Harmanpreet is prepared for the semi-finals. Citing Richa Ghosh’s most recent four innings results: a duck against Ireland, 47 off 34 against England, 44 off 32 against the Windies, and 31 off 20 against Pakistan. Harmanpreet needs the big-hitting Richa, nicely settling in the finisher’s role to perform in the same way that she did during the league stage because the powerful hitter has had an impressive tournament so far.
If India get through this game, they will have a huge opportunity to lift the trophy as they often get defeated by the Aussies only. It would be the first ICC championship for the Indian women’s team, so if they can win it, it will be the icing on the cake for women’s cricket in India.
