India Women are set to face England in the third match of their T20 World Cup campaign on February 18, Saturday. Team India defeated Pakistan by 7 wickets in their opening match of the mega event and thrashed West Indies by 6 wickets in their second match. They will want to continue their winning streak in the third match in order to lock their knockout-stage berth.
India will have no room for error when they take on a formidable England in the Women's T20 World Cup at St. George's Park in Port Elizabeth. A victory over the world number two England will take the women in blue into the knock-out stage. In the knockout stage, the top two teams from both groups will compete against each other.
India's top order will have to stabilise the innings against England, so that the pressure doesn't shift toward the middle-order. Smriti Mandhana looked in imperious touch after making her comeback from injury as she timed the ball to perfection but couldn't go the distance. Jemimah Rodrigues on the other hand will want to play with consistency while skipper Harmanpreet Kaur has also looked in good touch so far.
They will have to tackle England’s spin trio of Charlie Dean, Sophie Ecclestone, and Sarah Glenn. The Indian bowlers will have to bowl out of their skin against England, who will head into the match high on confidence after notching the joint-fastest fifty in Women's T20 World Cup history.
Pooja Vastrakar has been impressive with her bowling along with Renuka Singh and the ever-reliable Deepti Sharma. When it comes to fielding, there have been misfields and dropped catches that the team will want to learn from.
On the other hand, England who are also unbeaten after two games are top contenders to qualify for the semifinals as well. England have the same points as India but their NRR have put them on the top of the standings with an NRR of +2.497 as compared to India's +0.590.
Full Squads:
India: Harmanpreet Kaur (c), Smriti Mandhana, Shafali Verma, Yastika Bhatia, Richa Ghosh, Jemimah Rodrigues, Harleen Deol, Deepti Sharma, Devika Vaidya, Radha Yadav, Renuka Thakur, Anjali Sarvani, Pooja Vastrakar, Rajeshwari Gayakwad and Shikha Pandey.
England: Heather Knight (c), Lauren Bell, Maia Bouchier, Alice Capsey, Kate Cross, Freya Davies, Charlie Dean, Sophia Dunkley, Sophie Ecclestone, Sarah Glenn, Amy Jones, Katherine Sciver-Brunt, Nat Sciver-Brunt, Lauren Winfield-Hill and Danni Wyatt.
