After winning the first two games of the ICC Women’s World T20, the Indian team now faces Ireland for its third Group B match in the tournament on Thursday.
Indian women have got off to a good start winning their first two matches
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The Indian team, led by Harmanpreet Kaur, will be looking for a spot in the semi-finals and a win against Ireland will seal its spot. Ireland, on the other hand, lost to Australia and Pakistan.
After a comfortable 34-run victory against New Zealand in the opening game of the World T20, India eased past Pakistan on Sunday. India’s bowling was clinical on the day as the team restricted Pakistan for just 135/7 in its 20 overs.
The Pakistan batters who were found guilty of running on the pitch were given a two-run penalty which reduced its total to 133. India, which now needed 134 runs to win, was also awarded a 10-run head start. But in the end, these penalties hardly mattered as Mithali Raj powered India to a seven-wicket victory.
Meanwhile, Ireland had a very difficult task as it faced three-time champion Australia in its first game. Batting first, Ireland could only manage 93/6 in its 20 overs. The 22-year-old Kim Garth was the pick of the batswomen as she scored 24 runs off 26 balls. Ireland didn’t put up much of a fight as Australia reached its target with more than 10 overs to spare. In its second match on Tuesday, Ireland lost to Pakistan by 38 runs.
Many would say that this performance was expected from the young Indian team but all credit goes to Harmanpreet Kaur and Co. who have not put a foot wrong in the first two matches of the World T20.
Kaur led by example in the first match, becoming the first ever woman to score a century in the opener against New Zealand. She remains one of the key players in the Indian team. The batting line-up, which includes Mithali Raj, Smriti Mandhana, Tanvi Bhatia, Veda Krishnamurthy and the young Jemimah Rodrigues, is a solid attack. But it needs to click for India to go long in the tournament.
However, the underrated bowling duo of Poonam Yadav and Dayalan Hemalatha are the stars of India’s bowling attack, picking up five wickets each in the first two matches. India’s bowling hasn’t been tested as much but the Ireland game will be a good chance for the squad to tune up a few areas of their teams.
Ireland, on the other hand, hasn’t really grabbed the eyeballs but is a talented bunch of players which is capable of turning things around on its day. Players such as Kim Garth, Clare Shillington and Laura Delaney have what it takes to pose a few problems for India on Thursday.