While the World Cup kickstarts on Thursday in Sharjah, India begin their group-stage campaign with a crucial match against New Zealand in Dubai on Friday. (X/BCCI Women)
The story was nearly identical in the second warmup match for India ahead of the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup. Asked to bat first, India lost early wickets, before a middle-order recovery took them to 144/7, with contributions from Richa Ghosh and Deepti Sharma. It proved to be a sufficient total against 2023 runners-up South Africa who managed 116/6 as India made it two wins out of two before the year’s marquee tournament kicks off on Thursday.
The concerns for India will be regarding their batting order. Shafali Verma was out cheaply for the second straight match, this time for a duck in the first over. And as was the case in the match against West Indies, once again Harmanpreet Kaur walked in at No 3. As head coach Amol Muzumdar hinted in the pre-departure press conference in India, it would seem the skipper is the chosen one to bat one drop. But the return wasn’t there against South Africa either as Harmanpreet departed for a 11-ball 10. Harmanpreet has traditionally batted at No 4 — 107 times in 153 T20I innings. She is not known to be a fast starter and No 3 could require her to change that especially if she walks out to bat in the powerplay. It is an interesting choice that India seem to have made for the World Cup.
From 18/2 in the 4th over, Smriti Mandhana and Jemimah Rodrigues laid the foundation for a recovery with a 40-run stand. Rodrigues, who scored a half-century against West Indies, made a handy 30 once more. The boost came from Richa Ghosh in the middle order, in the company of Deepti Shrama who has recently turned a corner with her batting, with impressive outings in the WPL and The Hundred earlier this year. Richa’s 36 off 25 balls had 2 fours and 2 sixes at a strike rate of 144 while Deepti made a solid 35 off 29 balls with 2 fours — their partnership of 70 off just 50 balls powered India’s batting effort. Ayabonga Khaka picked up three wickets in the last over of the innings to register a 5-for and prevented India from getting past 150.
#TeamIndia register a 28-run win in their second warmup fixture! 🙌
A solid bowling display as they successfully defend 144 against South Africa 👏👏
📸: ICC
Scorcard – https://t.co/2bxYYzLGH1#T20WorldCup | #WomenInBlue pic.twitter.com/Bq9R2kCDeI
— BCCI Women (@BCCIWomen) October 1, 2024
South Africa’s run-chase never really gathered any momentum. They are usually heavily dependent on captain Laura Wolvaardt at the top, and Marizanne Kapp in the middle order. The former made 29 off 26 while the latter didn’t bat as they posted 116 in their allotted 20 overs. Once the match seemed to be under control at the halfway stage of the South African innings, India resorted to giving bowling time for a majority of their squad with a total of nine bowlers used. Harmanpreet and Shafali Verma picked up wickets in the backend too, while leg spinner Asha Sobhana was the sole bowler to pick up two wickets. The most crucial breakthrough came from Shreyanka Patil who had Wolvaardt out bowled.
While the World Cup kickstarts on Thursday in Sharjah, India begin their group-stage campaign with a crucial match against New Zealand in Dubai on Friday.
Brief scores: India 144/7 (Richa Ghosh 36, Deepti Sharma 35, Ayabonga Khaka 5/25) beat South Africa 116/6 (Laura Wolvaardt 29, Asha Sobhana 2/21) by 28 runs
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