India Women thrash Pakistan by five wickets in Asia Cup T20 match

Winning the toss and electing to field first, Women in Blue restricted the arch rivals Pakistan to 97-7 in 20 overs on Tuesday in the Asia Cup T20 match that was played at Bangkok, Thailand. The Indian spin trio of Ekta Bisht, Anuja Patil and skipper Harmanpreet Kaur laid the spin web to entangle Pakistan. Apart from the opening bat, Ayesha Zafar (28) and middle order bat Nain Abidi (37 n.o), rest of the Pakistani batting line-up looked listless.

Though chasing a humble 98 did not seem to be a daunting task, the match went all the way till the last over, with India just finishing the game in 19.2 overs. Veteran Mithali Raj provided a solid start to her team by making a patient 36 off 57 balls. Sadia Yousuf and Nida Dar chipped in couple of wickets apiece. A middle order collapse did not affect India’s chances in the game, as the captain, leading from the front, finished off the game in style with a quickfire 26. India won the match by five wickets and Harmanpreet Kaur was awarded the Man of the Match prize for her scintillating all-round performance.

Brief Scores: Pakistan Women 97-7 in 20 overs (N Abidi 37*, A Zafar 28, E Bisht 3-20) lost to Indian Women 98-5 in 19.2 overs (M Raj 36, H Kaur 26*, S Yousuf 2-27, N Dar 2-11) by five wickets

Women in Blue beat the West Indies in a thriller to seal the ODI series 3-0

Riding on the dashing middle order batswoman Veda Krishnamurthy’s heroics, team India managed to put up a respectable total of 199-6 on board against the West Indies in the third ODI that was played on Wednesday at Mulapadu, Andhra Pradesh.

Having already sealed the ODI series, the confidence in the Indian dressing room was at all time high and a clean sweep is what Mithali Raj and co were eyeing for. Though the home team did not get off to the best of starts with the Maharashtra batswoman Smriti Mandhana falling cheaply for 5, Deepti Sharma and the middle order played well to steady the sinking ship. Veda Krishnamurthy dominated the Caribbean bowling attack with her clean hitting.  Devika Vaidya joined the part with an unbeaten knock of 32.

The match went down the wire, with both the teams looking evenly poised to win the game. It was a close finish as the visitors fell short of just 15 runs. It was again the spin web of Rajeshwari Gayakwad that entangled the West Indian batting line up as she finished with economical figures of 4-21. Matthews and Knight played some good knocks, however failed to take their team home.

After the ODI series, both the teams are all set to play the T20 matches, starting 18^th November. It will be interesting to see how the Indian team under the aegis of young Harmanpreet Kaur, takes on the defending T20 champions West Indies.  

India Women take an unassailable lead of 2-0 against West Indies

The T20 champs descended to the Indian shores to play a three-match ODI series starting 10^th November at Vijayawada, Andhra Pradesh.

The Indian Women registered a clinical victory in the first ODI, winning the match comfortably by six wickets. The spin duo of Ekta Bisht and Rajeshwari Gayakwad picked up seven wickets between themselves. Skipper Mithali Raj led from the front scoring a patient 91-ball 46-run knock and was complimented well with the dashing middle order bat Veda Krishnamurthy who made an unbeaten 52 off 70 balls. Earlier in the day, the Carribeans were bundled out for a humble 131 in 42.4 overs, with the wicket-keeper batswoman Merissa Aguilleira top scoring with 42 runs.

The Women in Blue were not complacent after the easy win in the first match and did not take the opposition lightly. Chasing a decent target of 154 runs, captain Mithali Raj was again among the runs, top scoring with 45 off just 51 balls helping her team take an unassailable lead of 2-0 against the visitors. Opening bat Smriti Mandhana provided a dream start to the chase making 44 off 62 balls. The south paw then partnered well with all-rounder Deepti Sharma (32 runs off 63 balls). Earlier in the day, the powerful batswoman from Barbados, Deandra Dottin played a powered packed innings of 63 runs, taking her team to a decent total.       

The last and the final game of the three-match ODI series will be played on 16^th November at Mulapadu, Andhra Pradesh.

Source: PTI

Succession planning starts in Indian women’s cricket team; Harmanpreet Kaur replaces Mithali Raj as the T20 skipper

When the talks of poor succession planning are doing the rounds in the corporate world, courtesy the Tata’s, the women’s cricket in India has quietly made the news by announcing the young and talented all-rounder Harmanpreet Kaur as the T20 captain replacing the veteran Mithali Raj, who will still be a part of the T20 squad.

Kaur has been acting as a deputy to Raj for quite sometime now and there cannot be a perfect time than this to hand over the T20 reins to this refreshing talent. With the West Indies tour of India and Asia Cup to be played in Thailand, November is a busy month for the women in blue.

A dismal performance in the T20 World Cup that was played in India earlier this year, should not let them down, instead, this can be labelled as a stepping stone. It is time for the young guns like Smriti Mandhana, Veda Krishnamurthy and Poonam Yadav to step up and fill the big shoes of Mithali Raj and Jhulan Goswami, who have been few of the greatest servers of Indian women’s cricket.

Like what happened in 2007 with the men’s team at the inaugural T20 under the guidance of the then 26 year old MS Dhoni, let’s hope that Harmanpreet Kaur is also able to infuse some energy in her team and aim for the coveted T20 World Cup in 2018.    

Harmanpreet Kaur likely to become the first Indian to play Australia’s Women’s Big Bash League

When the talks of having women’s IPL are doing the rounds, this small town girl from Moga, Punjab is likely to become the first Indian to play in the Women’s Big Bash League (WBBL) which was started just last year. This Australian league has already garnered tremendous attention and many international cricketers are willing to play this league. Harmanpreet Kaur, vice-captain of the Indian women’s cricket team is one of the leading favourite overseas players, who is believed to make the cut to play in the WBBL this year.

The young and aggressive middle order batswoman has already impressed many with her free flowing batting and electrifying fielding. Add to this her more than handy bowling skills and Harmanpreet is a complete package that can squeeze in any T20 outfit. She has a solid batting technique and can take on any bowler in the world. Kaur is equally poised on the back foot and can come dancing down the track at her own will and wish.

The winners of the inaugural WBBL; Sydney Thunder and the runners-up Sydney Sixers have marked Kaur as an interesting choice for this season. Early this year, when India toured Australia for a three match T20 series and a three match ODI series, the 27-year old all-rounder played a pivotal role in India’s success in the T20. India won the series 2-1, thanks to Harmanpreet’s special services. In the first T20 itself, the Indian vice-captain cruised to a blistering 46 off 31 balls and helped her team chase down a record total (from India’s standpoint) of 141 runs. Her knock immediately caught the eyes of many and now she is in the reckoning of being the first Indian to play the Australian league.

If Harmanpreet has the potential and the essential caliber to play the overseas league, you cannot keep some of the other dashing players like Veda Krishnamurthy and Smriti Mandhana too far from playing these tournaments. Sharing the dressing room with some of the best international players, rubbing shoulders with them and discussing match strategies will serve as a great learning exercise to the Indian eves.

On June 1, when the BCCI led by the newly appointed President Mr. Anurag Thakur decided to allow the Indian women cricketers to play the foreign leagues like Australia’s WBBL and England’s WSL (Women’s Super League), the women’s cricket fans in India and across the globe could sense that this was the beginning of something big. “I have set a target for the women's team that by 2020 they should be No 1 in the world”, declared Thakur. These words were like music to the ears to all the well-wishers of women’s cricket in India.

The Indian’s women cricket is definitely traversing the path of development and is all set to carve a beautiful picture in the years to come.

 

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A big boost for women’s cricket in India; India eves can now play foreign leagues like WBBL and Kia Super League

The only trending topic for the cricket lovers in this cricket crazy nation for the last two months was the over-hyped but one of the most loved cricket tournaments; Indian Premiere League. When many hearts were broken when the run machine Virat Kohli’s RCB failed to win its first ever IPL trophy, soon, on the flip side, we had some good news coming in for the women cricketers in India. Mr.Anurag Thakur, who was recently promoted to become the President of the BCCI has said, “I have set a target for the women's team that by 2020 they should be No 1 in the world”.

These words of wisdom are cherished not only by the ardent followers of women’s cricket but also by the women cricketers themselves. What this means is that the Indian eves will now be permitted to play overseas T20 leagues like Women’s Big Bash League (WBBL) in Australia, which was started just last year as well as England’s Kia Super League, which will kick start this English summer in July. The Indian ladies just missed the bus to play for the Kia Super League as the foreign players to play this league have been already finalized.

With the likes of veteran players like Mithali Raj and Jhulan Goswami still making news in the international cricket, this reform comes as a great sigh of relief, for them to showcase their talent in foreign leagues. Young guns like Harmanpreet Kaur, Smriti Mandhana, Veda Krishnamurthy and Anuja Patil, who had a far better World Cup early this year than their teammates will be eyeing this opportunity as well.

Let’s us hope that this change indeed changes the way women’s cricket is perceived in India.  

source:www.espncricinfo.com

Women in Blue did not qualify for the semi-final; but win many hearts

Not once, not twice, but thrice did the Women in Blue could not hold on to their nerves in the Group Stage of ICC Women’s T20 World Cup 2016. After starting off with a comprehensive victory against Bangladesh, the Indian fans across the globe were positive and hoped that the women’s team would certainly make the cut for the knock-outs. Arch rivals Pakistan got the better off India, courtesy their 2-run win as per the D/L method in the rain-interrupted game. Mithali Raj & co. were fighting hard but perhaps not hard enough because everytime they inched closer to the victory, they let loose and helped the opposition get the better of them. At Dharamshala, the hosts had almost pocketed a stunning win against England while defending a humble 91 runs, but lost the match in the final over by two wickets.

It was a do-or-die contest at Mohali when the Indian team locked horns agaist West Indies. The Group was open as none of the teams had qualified for the knock-outs. Was it the pressure or was it the nerves that put the India eves in a shell? Only our girls can answer this. Chasing 115 runs in a big match could get tricky sometimes and that is what exactly happened on Sunday. The bowlers Harmanpreet Kaur (4-23 in 3 overs) and Anuja Patil (3-16 in 4 overs) did a commendable job in restricting the Carribeans to 114 even after the magnificent knocks from Deandra Dottin (45 runs off 40 balls) and skipper Stafanie Taylor (47 runs off 45 balls). Mind you, the girls were capable of chasing this target, as they had chased a record 141 against Aussies in their own backyard a couple of months back.

The otherwise powerful stroke-maker Harmanpreet Kaur (7 runs off 20 balls) looked out of sorts, so did India’s most dependable batswoman and skipper Mithali Raj who was out for a duck. Though Veda Krishnamurthy (18 runs off 16 balls) came out all guns blazing, she failed to score big on the big day. The two Maharashtra girls Anuja Patil (26 runs off 27 balls) and Smriti Mandhana (22 runs off 27 balls) tried to consolidate the innings, but unfortunately Mandhana played one on to her stumps to make her way back to the dug out. Anuja then joined hands with one of the most veteran players in the team Jhulan Goswami (25 runs off 19 balls) but it was too late in the day. Goswami muscled a few shots but was unfortunately run out.

India lost the match by merely 3 runs. A decent fielding unit otherwise, there was a misfield in the final over which went for a boundary. Had it been saved, who knows, the Women in Blue would be out there on Thursday to play their semi-final against New Zealand. 

Source: Getty Images