India ended up their warm-up matches on a high note with three emphatic wins against three of the top teams in the world- West Indies, England, South Africa (unofficial).
After two close wins, India geared up for the final warm-up match against England a day before the big picture, the first match of the world cup where they will face New Zealand.
After winning the toss, Kaur opted to bat first. Mithali Raj though struggled managed to put on a forty-odd runs partnership along with Jemimah Rodrigues after losing Smriti Mandhana for just 13. Jemimah made 21 while Mithali made 18. Some great bowling from England rattled the Indian middle-order, and as a result, India was reduced to 70 for 5. Watching the wickets fall from the other end, the captain Harmanpreet Kaur made us all wonder about the conditions as she made the batting looks too easy. With some support from Deepti Sharma, Kaur scored 62 off 32 with three sixes and six fours. India ended up with 144/6 in their 20 overs.
In response, the Indian bowlers kept it tight right from ball one. Though Arundati Reddy was taken for a few shots, She kept the run-rate down along with Radha Yadav who picked up two wickets.
The Indian strength has always been the spinners, and as Ramesh Power said earlier the team would look to work more on the spinning department. Once again, the spinners changed the game in India’s favour. Deepti Sharma and Poonam Yadav shared five wickets- Deepti two and Poonam three. India managed to hold on to the pressure better than England and won the match by 11 runs.
India will now play their first match against New Zealand as the favourites having won all the warm-up matches while New Zealand failed to overcome West Indies challenge. Also, considering the fact that the latter struggles against the spinners.
