India’s vice-captain Smriti Mandhana showed why she is Miss Consistent as she powered her way to another half-century. Smriti Mandhana showed her class as she made 74 while her opening partner Shafali Verma made 55 runs to set the base for India, while Richa Ghosh played the perfect role of the finisher as the Women in Blue ended with 209/5 in 20 overs.
In reply, the Netherlands showed some fight, but the spinners of India took over despite missing the services of Shafali Verma. Shree Charani picked up 4 wickets while Shafali Verma picked up 3 wickets, and Nandani Sharma picked up 2 wickets as India bowled the Dutch out for 114 in 17.3 overs to win by 95 runs. The Women in Blue leapfrog the Aussies on NRR for now.
Smriti Mandhana & Shafali Verma power India past 200 after being asked to bat first
Put into bat first, Smriti Mandhana and Shafali Verma came out to bat for India while Iris Zwilling had the ball in hand for the Netherlands. Shafali was the aggressor of the two, while Smriti played his part in hanging in there. It was the Verma and Mandhana show under overcast conditions as they put on a clinic against the Dutch bowlers. They aced the power play as India posted 59/0 in 6 overs of power play to lay the platform for their side.
The duo carried it on in the middle phase, with Shafali taking more of the risks while Mandhana slowly got into the groove. She, too, after facing 30-odd balls, shifted gears as the duo complemented each other really well. They converted the 50-run stand to a century run stand as well. It was a century stand after quite a while as the platform was laid by Indian openers. Both batters completed their half-centuries. The opening duo put on 115 for the first wicket before Shafali fell for 55 off 38 balls with 10 fours to her name to Heather Siegers.
Jemimah Rodrigues came out to bat next. Mandhana shifted gears post Verma’s dismissal as the right-hander took time to get in. Mandhana was at her fluent best as she registered back-to-fifties this season. The duo of Smriti and Jemimah formed another important partnership to keep the innings floating. The duo put on 47 crucial runs for the second wicket before Mandhana fell for 74 off 47 balls with 11 fours and one six to her name to Caroline de Lange.
Richa Ghosh, the keeper-batter, came in with 4 overs left in the innings. Jemimah did not last long either, post Mandhana dismissal, as Rodrigues fell for 19 off 13 balls with 2 fours to her name to Myrthe van den Raad. Yastika Bhatia came out to bat next. Ghosh was given a reprieve early on as a dolly was dropped inside the circle. Bhatia and Ghosh could add just 6 runs to the tally before Bhatia fell for 3 off 4 balls to de Lange. Captain Harmanpreet Kaur came out to bat next.
Richa Ghosh played the perfect role of the finisher from here on. She added the final flourish alongside Captain Kaur. Richa hit some clean hits out of the ground while Kaur played his part by playing the second fiddle. The duo put on 31 runs for the 5th wicket before the captain Kaur fell for 12 off 9 balls with 2 fours to her name to Zwilling. Two balls remained in the innings when Deepti Sharma came and faced the last two balls of the innings.
Deepti hit a maximum followed by a boundary to finish the innings in style as 10 runs were added in the last two balls. India finished above 200 runs as they finished with 209/5 in 20 overs, with Richa Ghosh unbeaten on 20 off 8 balls, with one four and two sixes to her name, while Deepti Sharma remained unbeaten on 10 off 2 balls with 1 four and 1 six to her name. 16 extras gifted by the fielding side.
From the Dutch bowlers’ point of view, Caroline de Lange was the pick of the bowlers with figures of 2/32 in 4 overs. The others picked up a wicket apiece. Iris Zwilling finished with 1/41 in 4 overs. Heather Siegers finished with 1/31 in 2 overs. Myrthe van den Raad finished with figures of 1/37 in 4 overs. Isabel van der Woning finished with 0/25 in 2 overs. Silver Siegers finished with 0/32 in 3 overs. Frederique Overdijk finished with 0/10 in 1 over. This meant that the Dutch had a massive target of 210 runs to win off 20 overs.
Shree Charani & Shafali Verma skittle the Netherlands out for 114 in 17.3 oversÂ
Chasing 210 runs for an improbable win, Heather Siegers and Phebe Molkenboer came out to open the batting for the Netherlands while Kranti Gaud had the ball in hand for India. To be fair to the Dutch, they showed spirit and resistance out there. The opening duo started well and in a steady manner against the new ball bowlers as they put on 34 for the first wicket inside 5 overs before Siegers fell for 21 off 16 balls with 4 fours to her name to Nandini Sharma. Babette de Leede, the captain and keeper batter, came out to bat next.
Babette put on some sort of partnership with Molkenboer. They played through to the end of the power play. The Dutch were 39/1 in 6 overs. The duo of de Leede and Molkenboer put on 16 runs for the second wicket before Molkenboer fell for 15 off 20 balls with 2 fours to her name to Deepti Sharma. Sterre Kalis came out to bat next and got off the mark with a boundary as well.
The two experienced campaigners got together and showed resistance from the Dutch, which was good to see. The duo added 27 runs for the third wicket before Kalis fell for 18 off 13 balls, with 3 fours to her name, before she was cleaned up by Shafali Verma. Robine Hijke came out to bat next. Babette showed resistance out there and did the bulk of the scoring in this partnership. The duo added 19 runs for the 4th wicket before the captain de Leede fell for 28 off 27 balls with 3 fours to her name to Nandini Sharma.
Frederique Overdijk came out to bat next. Just 2 runs were added to the tally before Rijke fell for 8 off 8 balls with one boundary to her name to Shree Charani. Iris Zwilling came out to bat next. The duo of Overdijk and Zwilling showed some fight and resistance as the duo added 15 runs for the 6th wicket before Overdijk fell for 9 off 7 balls with one four to her name to Charani. This is where the collapse happened to end the contest. Myrthe van den Raad came out to bat next.
No runs were added to the tally as van den Raad fell for a golden duck to Charani. Silver Siegers came out to bat next. Just one run was added to the tally before Zwilling fell for 8 off 9 balls, with one four to her name to Charani. Caroline de Lange came out to bat next. The score stayed at 114 when Siegers fell for 1 off 2 balls to Shafali Verma. Isabel van der Woning came out to bat next.
She lasted for two balls as she fell for a silver duck to Verma, with Jemimah picking a blinder of a catch. de Lange remained unbeaten on 0 off 0 balls as the Dutch were bowled out for 114 in 17.3 overs. 6 extras given by the fielding side.
Shree Charani was the pick of the bowlers for India with figures of 4/19 in 4 overs. Shafali Verma finished with figures of 3/20 in 3.2 overs. Nandani Sharma finished with figures of 2/22 in 3 overs. Kranti Gaud finished with 0/26 in 4 overs. Deepti Sharma finished with 1/26 in 3 overs. Shreyanka Patil could bowl one ball before twisting her ankle and leaving the field on a stretcher. Her injury mars the perfect day for the Indians. So, the Women in Blue won by 95 runs to move to the top of the points table in Group A. Smriti Mandhana was awarded the Player of the Match.
What Lies Ahead
So, India, with this massive win, goes top of the points table on NRR over Australia, who won earlier today against Bangladesh. South Africa is India’s next opponent on Sunday at Old Trafford. Speaking of South Africa, they will now face Pakistan at Edgbaston in Birmingham. Let’s see how that game unfolds.
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