Tauranga, March 16 (Agency) India’s top-order failed to fire again in their four-wicket defeat against England in the Women’s ODI World Cup match here on Wednesday. Skipper Mithali Raj and Deepti Sharma made just one run from 15 balls between them as India were bundled out for just 134 inside 37 overs. Star player Harmanpreet Kaur and emerging hitters Sneh Rana and Pooja Vastrakar too were dismissed cheaply. Smriti Mandhana’s 35 and a late 37-run partnership between Richa Ghosh and Jhulan Goswami was the only highlight of the Indian innings. However, Goswami is not concerned by the top-order batters’ form, citing the long-time teammate Mithali’s ability to score when it matters.
“I don’t think it’s a concern. Who is batting at number three? It is Mithali Raj. She is just one big knock away from a start,” said Goswami. “In past series she has been batting fantastically against New Zealand and is just one big knock away in this tournament. “I don’t think they are having issues. I think Deepti also did a pretty decent job and at number five Harmanpreet Kaur is playing.” Charlie Dean potentially displayed tournament-turning bowling performance, returning with the figures of four for 23. Any Shrubsole, who took 6/46 in the 2017 World Cup final, started the dream run for England in the 2022 edition match, clean bowling Yastika Bhatia through bat and pad to bring up 100 ODI wickets before claiming the big scalp of Mithali. Shrubsole believes England showed their true selves against India as they picked up their first win of the tournament after suffering three consecutive defeats.
The title holders had been on the wrong side of three narrow matches against Australia, West Indies and South Africa. England’s fielding was also much improved with players taking their catching and run-out chances as seven India batters failed to reach double figures. “We were motivated by wanting to put some things right that we feel like we haven’t achieved in this tournament so far, and everyone will individually have their own motivation,” Shrubsole explained. “We obviously wanted to come out here and win and that just goes without saying, that’s how we approach every single game. I guess it’s about us wanting to give a true reflection of ourselves as a team, which we feel like we haven’t done at times throughout the tournament and feel like we did more so today.”
Shrubsole was also full of praise for youngster Dean who was drafted into the side ahead of the South Africa clash, and reaped the rewards against an unstable Indian batting side. “I’m absolutely buzzing for Charlie, obviously this is her first World Cup, I think she is 21, to come and bowl as well as she did in what was a really high-pressure game with two wickets in her first over. “She really backed up the early wickets that we’d taken, so I am over the moon for Deano. She’s someone who’s really popular amongst this group. She is a seriously talented cricketer and hopefully is going to be taking wickets in World Cups over the years to come.”