As the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup heats up in England and Wales, a fascinating subcontinent rivalry is set to take centre stage at Old Trafford, Manchester. India women face Bangladesh women in a Group A clash that carries immense weight for both sides as they eye a spot in the knockout stages.
India women, fresh off their historic 50-over World Cup triumph last year, entered this tournament hunting for their elusive maiden T20 World Cup crown. They kicked off their campaign in spectacular fashion, dismantling arch-rivals Pakistan by 64 runs, followed by a dominating win over Netherlands. They had faced a setback in their last match as Marrizane Kapp single-handedly thrashed them to a 6-wicket loss. Now a victory against Bangladesh is necessary before their last match against a daunting Australian side, which is unbeaten in the tournament so far. India will expect more consistency from their players and more holistic contribution from the team, as at times it looks like they are dependent on a few individual superstars.
Also read: India’s loss to South Africa keeps Group 1 wide open
Bangladesh women, on the other hand, arrived with plenty to prove. After winning two of their first three matches, including their last encounter against Pakistan, Nigar Sultana’s team is riding high on confidence. They may expect much more from their batters, but their bowlers, like the pair of slow left arm spinners, Sanjida Akter Meghla and Nahida Akter, look to be in great form, with both picking up 3 wickets each in their last encounter against Pakistan. While historically considered the underdogs against their neighbours, Bangladesh have always possessed the giant-killing potential to upset India’s plans if given an inch. If they can clinch a win against India women, they would really dream of a Semi-final spot.
Recent Form (Latest first):
India: L, W, W, L, L
Bangladesh: W, L, W, W, W
Conditions:
India will again play at Old Trafford, where spinners have done slightly better than the pacers, which would be good news for both teams. The temperature is expected to cross 30 degrees, which should not be a challenge for these two sub-continental teams.
Players to watch out for:
Smriti Mandhana and Shafali Verma: Openers Smriti Mandhana and Shafali Verma will look to exploit the powerplay overs on a true Old Trafford pitch. Mandhana has already scored two fifties, whereas Verma scored one fifty and a handy 15-ball 31 in the last game. They would know a lot of India’s hopes are on them and look to provide a good platform for the middle order to accelerate.
Marufa Akter: Along with their spinners, one of Bangladesh’s biggest weapons will be the pace and accuracy of Marufa Akter, who can trouble the Indian top order with her genuine pace. She has already picked up three wickets in this tournament and will look to add a few more against India.
Injury update:
No new injury scare for the teams.
From the press:
Shafali Verma, the Indian batter said to media, “South Africa played such a good game and I think in the situation we were in we couldn’t execute properly. No, I won’t say that — the total wasn’t bad at all and I think the bowling was good. Our captain batted very well, so credit to her. And just talking about the next two games — we all know how important it is for us to win both matches, so we’ll play match by match, tomorrow with Bangladesh and then we’ll see the other game. But we all know that both matches are very crucial — we will give our best.” She opined, “Of course, we can’t take any team lightly; they also came here to show very good cricket. But as I said earlier, game by game we’ll go. We all know we have to win two games, but we’ll go game by game and try to give our best cricket tomorrow. And just win that game tomorrow.”
Sobhana Mostary from the rival team remarked, “So we already won 2 matches, so we have 2 more games. So next 2 games also very hard. So India and South Africa. So actually we won 2 matches, so maybe next 2 matches if we won for going to the semi-final, we’re looking forward. But we know this team is so good, so we planning and go forward.” She further added, “So we looking for our batting because of this environment and our country’s environment so different. So we adapt to our condition – that condition and batting. So our opener also going good one match, but two matches they are fall down. But we thinking about the next game, this ground also good like some spin and some pace ball also – So just thinking about this.”
Predicted XIs:
India: Smriti Mandhana, Shafali Verma, Jemimah Rodrigues, Harmanpreet Kaur (C), Bharti Fulmali, Richa Ghosh, Deepti Sharma, Radha Yadav, Kranti Gaud, Shree Charani, Nandani Shama
Bangladesh: Juairiya Ferdous, Dilara Akter, Sharmin Akhter, Nigar Sultana Joty (C), Sobhana Mostary, Shorna Akter, Ritu Moni, Rabeya Khatun, Nahida Akter, Marufa Akter, Sanjida Akter Meghla
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