The Indian Eves stunned hosts England by 35 runs in the opening match of the women’s World Cup 2017 Played at County Ground, Derby finished a few minutes ago.
India were invited to bat, contributions from all the Indian batters, the visitors posted 281 and England while chasing they lost wickets at regular intervals as Wilson and Brunt put up an partnership but could save the hosts losing the match.
England captain Heather Knight won the toss and elected to field at Derby ground earlier today. Indian openers Smriti Mandhana and Punam Raut gave the team a flying start with the left handed batter striking the ball with ease. At the end of first 10 overs, Indian women were 59 for 0. After the powerplay overs both the Indian batters played the with caution taking singles and hitting bad balls away for boundaries. Mandhana completed her fifty in 44 balls with a boundary while Raut took hit boundaries also.
The left handed batter continued to put pressure on England bowlers. Mandhana was dismissed for 90 runs trying hitting a boundary ending a 144 runs partnership for the first wicket in the 27th over. In the first wicket partnership Punam Raut also played attacking strokes. The captain Mithali Raj came to the crease and took time to settle. Punam Raut completed her half century in 86 balls. Both of them continued to play the England bowlers well. The second wicket partnership of Raj and Punam Raut put on 78 runs as Raut was dismissed for 86 in the 43rd over .
Mithali Raj completed her fifty in 57 balls and created a record of scoring seven consecutive fifties in women’s ODI. Harmanpreet Kaur came to the crease in the last few overs smashing 24 in 22 balls while Raj was dismissed off the last ball for 71 in 73 balls. Indian eves posted a competitive total of 281 for 3 in 50 overs.
Chasing the target of 282, the England Eves got off to a steady start as Sarah Taylor and Beaumont added 33 runs for the first wicket in 8.1 overs before the latter was dismissed for 14 runs. At the end of first 10 overs, the hosts were 40 for 1. After the powerplay overs, the Indian spinners did a great job taking the wickets of Sarah Taylor and Sciver to put the hosts in big trouble.
Captain Knight and Fran Wilson steadied the innings with a good partnership of 67 runs for the fourth wicket. Knight was run out for 46, few runs later Wyatt was dismissed for 9 runs by Deepti Sharma. Fran Wilson and Brunt gave England hopes of a win by playing attacking strokes. Wilson completed her fifty in 58 balls. Both looked in great touch adding 62 runs for the 6th wicket as Brunt was run out by a direct hit for 24 while Wilson was run out for 81 to end the hopes of England team coming back into the match.
England Eves were bowled out for 246 in 47.3 overs to give India a 35 runs win. It was their first victory over England in ODIs since 2012. In the other match New Zealand women defeated Sri Lanka by 9 wickets.
Indian women 281 for 3 in 50 overs (Smriti Mandhana 90, Punam Raut 86, Mithali Raj 71, HC Knight 2/41) beat England women 246 for 10 in 47.3 overs ( Fran Wilson 81, HC Knight 46, Punam Raut 3/47) by 35 runs
Indian women 2 England women 0
New Zealand women 189 for 1 in 37.4 overs (Suzie Bates 106*, Satterwaithe 78*) beat Sri Lanka women 188 for 9 in 50 overs ( Jayagani 53, Kumarihami 49, Huddleston 5/35) by 9 wickets
Indian women play their next match on 28th June against West Indies at County Ground, Taunton.
According to Captain Mithali Raj: “It was important to get a start like that. it was a brilliant opening partnership between Smriti and Poonam. Despite the pitch not having much for the bowlers, the spinners did a great job to restrict and also pick wickets at regular intervals.
Smriti Mandhana the man of the match said: “The last five and a half months have been very tough but now the knee is fine. Like to thank everyone at the NCA for making me fit to play like this.” The left handed young batter gave the team a flying start and put the pressure on the England bowlers, not allowing to settle.
